GLUTEN FREE- 10 Italian Foods You Should Not Live Without- Why Would You??

NOT GLUTEN

     As you may or may not know, I hail from a maternal Italian heritage.  So, I can cook well, I learned at around 4 how to make meatballs...and I have British paternal lineage, so I have a weird sense of humour, but I can speak well and hold my own in any debate.  So, half breed that I am, I work harder.  Since I was raised in my maternal grandmother's home and lived with that family who were born and bred in Northern Italy... my Italian comes out a bit more in cooking.  The challenge has been adapting my Nonna's recipes to my GLUTEN FREE life.

    So I am going to give you my opinion of 10 wonderful, flavorful and fairly easy recipes.  They are in no particular order- I hope you try them and enjoy them- and think of my Nonna when you do.

This is handy to have when you are making PASTA

1) MY BAKED ZITI-

  An easy meal, yet incredibly delicious and like most Italian food, better the next day!!

My youngest son calls this lazy lasagna.

Ingredients

• 1 pound gluten free ziti
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil plus more for pasta
• 1 pound  lean ground beef
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano, to taste
•  Salt and pepper, to taste
•  24-ounces sauce (or homemade sauce, hopefully- you control what's in it)
• 2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese mixture
• 1 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

  For the Ricotta cheese mixture:

• 16 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup romano cheese, grated
• 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
• Pinch of Nutmeg 
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

Mix all together.

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook gluten free ziti (you can find in most grocery stores now) until al dente. When cooked, drain the pasta and mix with a little bit of olive oil so it doesn't stick. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large, deep saucepan over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot, add the ground beef and break the meat up while cooking.  Add garlic and seasonings and stir to combine. Add tomato sauce to beef and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes.

Spread a thin layer of tomato-beef mixture on the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch casserole dish. Top with half the ricotta cheese mixture. Add rest of tomato-beef sauce to pasta and stir well to combine. Pour pasta into casserole dish and spread out evenly. Top with remaining ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan. Bake until cheese is bubbly and golden-brown, about 20 minutes.

Remove from oven, let sit for about 5 minutes, and enjoy!

2) AMAZING PASTA BOLOGNESE

There are as many recipes for Bolognese as the number of times I spell it wrong.  It's a hearty sauce that is a meal in itself

Ingredients

• 1 Medium Spanish onion or yellow onion, finely chopped
• 3 Tbsp  good olive oil
• 2 lbs Ground beef
• Dash of nutmeg
• 2-3 TBSP Italian Seasoning
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 lb peeled and chopped tomatoes (or 1 28-oz can whole peeled tomatoes, packed in water) -use San Marzano Tomatoes worth every extra penny-never use sugar in your sauce again
• 1/2 teaspoon  salt
• wine as desired (about 1 cup)

DIRECTIONS

 Put onion, in sauté pan with olive oil and cook over medium heat until onion turns pale gold. Add the beef to the pan, and increase the heat to high; cook until browned. Sprinkle with the Italian seasoning, and pepper. Stir in tomatoes, bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to medium. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. If you are using whole canned tomatoes, break them up as you add them to the sauce, season with sea salt. Then turn down the heat and simmer for 2 and 1/2 hours. Stir at least every 20 minutes. Whenever the sauce gets too dry and starts sticking to the pan, just add 1/4 cup of wine and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

Serve with your favorite pasta.. I have an easy recipe for GLUTEN FREE pasta following

Can easily freeze for future use.

3) Lasagna

Lasagna is one of Doug's favorite foods.. if not his ALL time fav!!  So making lasagna is serious stuff and I am going to give you 2 recipes- the first one is the one I love most- again my Nonna never measured a thing.. so we are guessing

Lasagna a la Doug

Ingredients

QUICK SAUCE

2 lbs of ground beef

2 cloves of garlic smashed

1 tsp of salt

i tsp pepper

1 TBSP parsley

1 TBSP basil

1 TBSP Italian seasoning

3 cans of tomatoes - use San Mazano (naturally sweeter- they are grown in Naples)

2 cans of tomato paste

Saute the garlic in olive oil. brown hamburger add rest of ingredients - simmer for 30-60 min

FILLING

24 oz of ricotta 2 eggs

1/2 tsp pepper

2 TBSP fresh parsley chopped

1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated

1 lb mozzarella shredded (use 1/2 lb in the filling)

mix all of the filling ingredients in a bowl add a pinch of nutmeg

Cook Lasagna noodles as directed.( use gluten free noodles or make your own)  Drain.

Spray a 13 X 9 baking pan with Olive Oil Pam

Layer sauce, noodles, ricotta mixture, noodles, sauce, ricotta,  sauce- till you have used it all. Top with mozzarella.

*overlap the noodles 1/2"

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes..uncover and cook 20 more.

or use my Nonna's Sauce Recipe if you have time, its the BEST-

Ingredients

For the meat sauce:

• 3 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 8-10 pieces of Braciole- recipe follows- 
• 3 16-ounce cans San Marzano tomatoes
• 2 cans of tomato paste
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 3 TBSP Italian seasoning
• Salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste

For the cheese mixture:

• 16 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup romano cheese, grated
• 1/2 cup parmesean cheese, grated
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

For the lasagna:

• 12 cooked GLUTEN FREE noodles
• Cooking spray
•  1 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded 

Make the sauce: Heat the olive oil in a large sauce pot. Add then onion and garlic and cook about 5 minutes, or until softened and translucent. Add the Braciole and then. the tomatoes, paste, basil, and Italian seasoning, and stir to combine. Simmer for about 4 hours. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

 Make the cheese mixture: Mix together the ricotta, mozzarella, and romano cheeses, parsley, salt, pepper, basil, oregano, and egg in a large mixing bowl.

 Build and bake the lasagna: Spray the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Spread meat sauce on the bottom of the pan so the bottom of the pan is well covered with sauce..Layer 3 lasagna noodles over the meat sauce (they may overlap slightly). Spread 1 cup of the cheese mixture over the noodles. Spread 1 cup of meat sauce onto the cheese mixture. Repeat the layers of noodles, cheese, and meat sauce two more times.  Top with 3 lasagna noodles, the remaining meat sauce, and 1 cup shredded mozzarella. Spray a large piece of foil with cooking spray and wrap the pan tightly with it, sprayed side down. Bake at 325ºF for about 45 minutes..

Turn the oven off and allow the lasagna to set up in the warm oven for 30 minutes.

4) How to Make Braciole-

  If you have never had Braciole- you have never lived- Braciole is a very lean cutlet of beef tenderized by Doug pounding it with a heavy meat mallet. What can I say - he is good.

Ingredients

• 1&1/2 lbs of steak (like a flank steak or round
• 1/2 cup  bread crumbs- make your own from gluten free bread- or like I do- just omit breadcrumbs and use more cheese)
• 2/3 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/2 cup grated provolone
• 2 TBSP chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• 1/4 cup pine nuts-chopped fine
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons olive oil

So first cut your steak into about 4" pieces. And then smash each until really really thin.  Take the cheeses, pine nuts, parsley, and bread crumbs if you use them put them in a bowl and drizzle about 1-2 TBSP of olive oil (less if you do not use bread crumbs). Mix well. 

Lay the braciole (beef steak cutlets)  flat.. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the steak to cover the top evenly- use the same amount on each piece of meat. Start at the smallest end and roll this like a jelly roll (kind of).  You can secure it by tying with butchers twine, but I use toothpicks.  Heat enough olive oil in a pan to cover the bottom, and once hot, add the pieces of braciole- brown on all sides.
Once all are cooked- deglaze the pan with some sweet red wine- just 1/4 cup or so- you can use water if you wish.  Use your Braciole and pan juices to start your sauce. You need to cook this for 4 hours- which you may say is excessive- but you wont once this delicacy melts on your tongue- foodgasm!

Once your sauce has simmered for 4 hrs- take the Braciole out and place it on a serving dish with a bit of sauce over it.- then use the sauce for your lasagna.  YUM YUM YUM!!!



5) Chicken Parmesean

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups gluten free flour, seasoned with salt and pepper, and a tsp of basil, and 1/2 cup of parmesean cheese
• 4 large eggs, beaten with 2 tablespoons water 
• 1/2 cup -1 cup pure olive oil
• Tomato Sauce
• 1 pound fresh mozzarella,shredded
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• Fresh basil or parsley leaves, for garnish

First, cut your chicken into 5-6 inch pieces. Dip chicken in flour mixture, then egg, the flour again- place on a plate to rest. Once all the chicken is done, place 1/2 cup of olive oil in a saute pan and heat over high heat until almost smoking. Add 2 chicken breasts cook until golden brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Once they are all cooked. Transfer to a 13 X 9 baking pan (or larger) and top each breast with  tomato sauce and mozzarella,and parmesan. Bake in the oven until the chicken is cooked through and the cheese is melted, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and garnish with basil or parsley leaves

Double this recipe..it always goes fast

Now Doug loves veal- to make this with veal instead of chicken- cut the veal into 5" pieces and on a hard surface, pound with a metal mallet till thin- the rest is the same.

6) Pasta Primevera

Ingredients

3 carrots, peeled and cut into small chunks (about 1/2 inch or so)
2 medium zucchini or 1 large zucchini, cut into small chunks
1 cup of broccoli florets or green beans (or both)
1 onion,chopped fine
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into  small chunks
1 red bell pepper, cut into small chunks
1/4 cup olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs
1 pound gluten free pasta (I made Orecchiette- literally "little ears" - I will tell you how)
15 cherry tomatoes, halved or 5 plum tomatoes chunked
 1 cup grated Parmesan

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

In a large frying pan add olive oil to coat the bottom, heat it until it is fragrant. Add the vegetables- zucchini, peppers, onion, season with Italian seasoning and saute till tender. stirring after the first 5 minutes, about 10 minutes total. Cook  the pasta in boiling water till al dente -tender but still firm to the bite- about 8 minutes. The last 4 minutes you cook your pasta- add carrots, broccoli, green beans to the pasta , Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

Toss the pasta with the vegetable mixtures in a large bowl to combine. Toss with the cherry tomatoes, drizzle a little olive oil and enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten (NOT SOUPY). Season the pasta with pepper, to taste. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and serve immediately.
VEGETARIAN- GLUTEN FREE- NUT FREE- SOY FREE- and delish


7) Minestrone

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small minced white onion
• ½ cup chopped zucchini
• ½ cup  green beans
• ½ stalk minced celery
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 4 cups  broth
• 2 cans (15 oz) red kidney beans, drained
• 2 cans (15 oz)  small white beans, drained
• 6 good sized plum tomatoes
• ½ cup shredded carrot
• 2 tablespoons minced parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• 1 TBSP Italian seasoning
• 3 cups hot water
• 4 cups fresh baby spinach
• ½ cup Gluten Free Orecchiette or other smallish pasta

 Pour olive oil into a large pot and heat until fragrant. Put the onion, celery, garlic, green beans, and zucchini into the pot and saute until the onions are soft.
 Add the broth, tomatoes, beans, carrots, hot water and spices to the pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes. Add the spinach leaves and the pasta and cook for an additional 30 minutes.

I know this looks like it has a lot of vegetables- it does.. I love vegetables if they are fresh! The beauty of this is you can use whatever veggies you like and omit what you don't. Perfect! This is really delicious, none of the veggies is so overpowering it takes over the soup.  Serve with a simple tomato and lettuce salad ..and you have dinner!

8)  Gnocchi

There are many regions that lay claim to the origins of gnocchi. While they are generally associated with northern Italy, they can be made with a variety of base ingredients but potato gnocchi is one of our favourtes.

In the nineteenth century, Pellegrino Artusi, the “grandfather” of Italian cuisine, published a recipe for potato gnocchi prepared in exactly the same way that we see today, complete with the story of a woman whose gnocchi disappeared in the pot she was boiling them in—because she hadn’t used enough flour to hold them together. He first shapes his gnocchi into pinky-sized pieces and then rolls them against the back of a cheese grater for texture. That texture, whether created by rolling gnocchi with the tines of a fork or with a special wooden implement, help give the otherwise smooth dumplings little nooks and crannies where sauce can hide, and guarantee full flavor with every bite.

The secret to fluffy, tender gnocchi is to make the dough while the mashed potatoes are hot, add just enough liquid to hold it together- you still want a "dough" consistancy. 

• 2-3 lb. russet potatoes
• ½ tsp. salt to taste
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• ¾ cup+  gluten free all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350°F. It is important to BAKE the potatoes NOT boil- boiling will add too much water.
 Scoop out potato insides. Mash potato in bowl. Stir in salt, then egg with fork. Stir in flour until dough comes together and no longer sticks to fork or your hands.
 Take about 1/2 cup or so of dough, and roll into 3/4-inch-thick rope on work surface dusted with gluten free flour. Cut rope into 3/4-inch pieces. Set back of fork atop 1 gnocchi, and use fork to roll gnocchi toward you, making light indentations with fork tines. (these indentations  Transfer to a baking sheet.
 Bring pot of salted water to a boil. Add gnocchi, and cook until gnocchi float to top. Drain, and serve with your favorite sauce.

9) 

10) The STAR of the Show!  Gluten-Free Fresh Pasta

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 ounces) brown rice flour, plus more for dusting
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) tapioca starch
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 4 large eggs
• Kosher salt

In large bowl, mix brown rice flour, tapioca starch, and xanthan gum. Add eggs. Use your hands and mix till dough forms- not too sticky, but smooth. Generously dust your counter with brown rice flour. Turn dough out onto counter and knead until smooth. Let the dough rest, covered for 20 minutes.

Divide dough into a few equal pieces and work with 1 piece at a time, keeping the rest covered. Roll the dough to flatten it with a rolling pin. Cut it into even strips. Using a pasta machine set at the widest setting, run the dough through 2 times. Continue rolling dough through successively narrower settings until the dough is thin, but still pliable. I used these sheets for lasagne noodles.  But you can cut them into fettuccini.  with the scraps of dough- mix together and roll into a rope the size of your finger.  Cut into disks of about 1/2 inch- take your finger and press down on one side- Voila-  Orecchiette !

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until tender, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.