Pasta :)

Sometimes you just feel like pasta...  And when you eat gluten free, that can sometimes be difficult! Rice pasta falls apart, corn pasta can be crunchy, quinoa pasta turns to mush/crumbles and so on and so forth! But.....here are two super easy and really tasty recipes for two very different pasta dishes that I make pretty regularly when I feel like I need a bowl of comfort.  First thing's first, my favorite pasta brand so far is Barilla! Their gluten free pasta is a mixture of multiple grains and holds up perfectly well to cooking and being tossed around in sauce.  No falling apart going on here! So here it goes! The first recipe is for shrimp scampi :)

Shrimp Scampi

a couple tablespoons of olive oil

6-8 cloves of garlic chopped

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 onion chopped

juice of 1 lemon

1 cup dry white wine

1 tbs corn starch

15-20  medium shrimp

1 box Barilla Gluten free spaghetti

Fresh Parsley

 

So first thing's first, put a couple of tablespoons of olive oil into a pan (if you aren't very allergic to dairy add a tablespoon of butter OR dairy free substitute like Earth Balance) and sweat the onions.  After the onions have cooked a bit, add in the garlic.  Don't add the garlic too soon because you don't want it to get bitter or burnt.  After the onion and garlic cook together a bit, add the white wine to the pan, reserving a few teaspoons.  Let the alcohol cook out and add the red pepper flakes.  Salt and pepper to taste and squeeze in the juice of a lemon. Next, mix the cornstarch into the reserved white wine and pour it into the sauce.  Stir around and let thicken.  Next add the shrimp that have been cleaned.  The shrimp only take a few minutes to cook, only cook until they look opaque and pink.  NEXT toss the cooked pasta through the sauce and shrimp.  Sprinkle some fresh parsley over the top and salt to taste.  This recipe is "boyfriend approved" ! My boyfriend loves it with some parmeggiano reggiano on top.  He doesn't have any food allergies so I know that if he likes it, it's a keeper of a recipe!

Next up is a sausage and mushroom pasta dish!

Sausage,Mushroom and Cherry Tomato Pasta

3-4 sausages of choice

6 cloves of garlic

1/2 onion sliced

1 package of white button mushrooms sliced

assorted cherry tomatoes sliced

a few tablespoons of olive oil

salt and pepper

1 box Barilla Gluten Free Spaghetti

The measurements in this recipe are really up to you. It's one of those recipes where you throw everything in the pan and it comes out really well every time.  Start out by putting the sausage of your choice into a pan with some water about half way up the sausage.  I used half spicy and half sweet sausage.  Turn the pan on high and let the sausage boil, flip them around every once in a while to get both sides boiled.  Once the water boils out, let the sausage brown a bit on each side and turn the heat down to medium.  Next, take the sausage out of the pan and slice it up! Throw it back into the pan with the mushrooms and onions with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.  This will begin to create a bit of a sauce.  After the veggies start to sweat and cook, throw in the garlic and the tomatoes! This will really get the sauce going once the tomatoes begin to pop open and soften.  Salt and pepper to taste.  I won't give you a measurement for that because I really love salt and it probably will be wayyyy too salty for you if I tell you how much I put in..... Nextttttt toss in the pasta!  The only thing left to do is ENJOY!!

Another "Boyfriend approved" recipe :) ENJOY!