Fettuccini Alfredo - gluten free/dairy free/vegan

Growing up Mom used to make Fettuccine Alfredo as an accompaniment to her Turkey Cutlets. I've broken out the recipes into separate posts for benefit of those looking for one or the other.

Please note, this recipe is for 8oz of pasta however, some GF brands come in 12oz or 16oz. In that case, the recipe easily scales up (by half for 12oz and double for 16oz).

Fettuccine Alfredo

Ingredients:
8oz Gluten Free Fettuccine
1 cup rice milk
2 Tbsp GF flour
3 Tbsp Vegan Parmesan Cheese
3 Tbsp olive oil

Cook the pasta according to the manufacturer's directions. Meanwhile in a sauce pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the flour and stir until it starts to brown. Add vegan Parmesan and rice milk while continuing to stir. Allow to thicken stirring occasionally. If it finishes thickening before the pasta is done, remove from heat until pasta is done (you'll need to reheat it once the pasta is ready). Drain the pasta and cover with sauce.

Makes 3-4 side dish servings.

Manicotti - gluten-free/dairy-free/vegan

Success!!!! My Gluten Free/Dairy Free Manicotti were a huge success on Christmas day! I used a flour blend mix by Annalise Roberts but I would think you can use any you like. Her blend recipe is available on her website here. The recipe for my GF/DF Manicotti is as follows:

Ingredients - shell

1 cup gluten free flour
1 1/4 cup water
9 tbs whipped silken tofu (or three eggs)
1/2 tsp xantham gum

Ingredients - filling

1 package silken tofu (16oz)
1 tbsp Vegan parmasean
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 egg (optional, if making vegan leave out and do not adjust)

Ingredients - other
1/2 cup of tomato sauce (I don't eat a lot of tomato so you might need/like more.)
cooking spray (as needed)

For the shells: Add the flour and xantham gum to a large mixing bowl. Add the whipped tofu (or beaten eggs) and water then stir until blended smooth. The batter should be runny and if it is not, then add a little more water until it is.

Heat a small 5" frying pan over medium heat (oil if not a non-stick pan). Add a small amount of batter to the pan and quickly tilt the pan so the batter evenly covers the entire bottom of the pan in a thin layer. Cook about 2 minutes until the top of the batter is dry, then flip carefully using a small spatula and cook the other side. Set aside to cool and repeat until you are out of batter. (Note: it may be helpful to place the finished shells on wax paper so they don't stick together.)

For the filling: Combine all of the filling ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir (I use a spoon) until combined and resembling ricotta. Do not over stir or the mixture will turn into goo.

To assemble: Spray a baking pan with cooking spray or coat the bottom with tomato sauce.

Hold a cooled shell in the palm of one hand and with the other hand spoon about 3 tablespoons of filling lengthwise across the center of the shell. (I used the serving spoon that came with my flatware - it appears to be the right size for me.) Flip one side and then the other over the filling until you have a mixture filled tube. Flip the tube over (so the folds are on the bottom) and place carefully into the baking pan. Repeat with the remaining shells and filling.

Cover the manicotti with your favorite tomato sauce. (Since I avoid too much tomato, I sort of just brush them with sauce.)

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. (Option: if you want, you could cover with shredded vegan mozzerella cheese after baking and broil until the cheese is melted. Watch carefully while broiling as the cheese will quickly burn and blacken if left in too long!)

This recipe makes approximately 10 manicotti but is easily scaled up.

Don't worry if the first couple of shells are disasters, they take a little practice before you get the exact right amount of batter in the pan and get the hang of tilting to spread the batter.

Nomato products - tomato free pasta sauce, salsa, barbecue sauce and ketchup

Since I've essentially been away for two and a half weeks now, the contents of my refrigerator are getting kind of scarce. On the upside, searching through it last night for a jar of roasted red peppers led me to discover that I still had an open jar of Nomato sauce that I had picked up in upstate New York earlier in the year. Unfortunately, the roasted red peppers had seen better days and were discarded but I did boil up some pasta instead. For those that don't know, I really can't eat too many tomatoes. Ketchup for some reason doesn't bother me in the least but as far as pasta sauce goes, more than a couple tablespoons or so and I'll be sick.

Nomato is a small company in PA that produces four tomato free products: Pasta sauce, ketchup, barbecue sauce and salsa. They sell online at http://www.nomato.com or at a small list of regional stores: http://www.nomato.com/stores.htm

I've only ever tried the pasta sauce and it wasn't bad. They seem to use a blend of carrots and beets and the sauce itself is the right color. The pasta does get a slight purplish tinge to it however. It wasn't as good as Mom's tomato sauce and to be honest since I can tolerate small amounts of her sauce, I won't be switching to Nomato's product. I did however, want to share the existence of this company with anyone else who may be avoiding Tomatoes completely. Since their distribution is so small, I doubt I'll be trying their other products, although if you do, please note it in the comments below.

And as a side note, their product line is dairy and gluten free as well.

Update (3/6/08) - this is now also available online from the Gluten-Free Mall here.

Manicotti update - gf/df/vegan

Just a quick update on my quest to make Manicotti for Christmas. I made them again last night and this time added a little Xantam gum and baked them uncovered. The tops came out perfect but the bottom was a touch gummy. They did hold together better than the last batch. I think the shells are still a little too thick. I'm pretty sure I'll get this on the next go around (which may be Christmas itself!) I'll post the recipe once I'm done.

The original post is here: http://gfdfadventures.blogspot.com/2008/11/manicotti-gluten-freedairy-freevegan.html

Another Lasagna attempt

Last week I made another attempt at making a gluten-free/dairy-free/vegan lasagna. It wasn't as bad as the first time but not as good as last time either. I used Debole's No Boil noodles and boiled them first. For those who don't already know, the first time I used Debole's No Boil noodles I didn't boil them and my lasagna was crunchy! More on that and the recipe I use are in this old blog post: http://gfdfadventures.blogspot.com/2008/09/gfdf-lasagna-adventure.html

So anyhow, after boiling for 10 minutes the noodles were still pretty al dente. I made two improvements to my process. First, I boiled the noodles in a large saute pan in which they could lie flat while they cooked. After I drained and rinsed them I returned them to this pan with some cold water. This made building the lasagna much easier.

I also subbed out the soft tofu for silken tofu. To be honest there isn't too much of a difference here other than it takes less effort to get a Ricotta like consistency (you can get it by stirring with a spoon for the Silken, but need to use a whisk for the soft.)

After baking for 30 minutes I cut the lasagna up into 3 large pieces and proceeded to eat one. That one was still a little hard (noodle-wise) so I returned the other two pieces to the oven for another 30 minutes while microwaving the piece I was eating (it was late and I was too hungry to wait another 30 minutes!) When they were done, I froze both of the other two pieces for future lunches.

Today at lunch I had one of the frozen pieces and to be honest the noodles didn't hold up too well. I think this means (as much as I don't really like them) that I'll have to go back to trying Tinkyada lasagna noodles next time. I'll just have to boil them even less than the previous time (after 10 minutes the wavey edges were falling off). I also think I'll try to buy a 10" square pan to bake this in. That will save me having to cut the noodles to fit my 8" pan.

Ah, someday I'll get this 100% right!

Beef Rouladen and Spaetzle - gluten free/dairy free

I had a friend of mine and her husband over for dinner Sunday night. She's very supportive of my diet (as a matter of fact she was the first to convince me that Celiacs may be the cause of my digestive problems) so I was fairly comfortable asking them to taste my first attempt at GF/DF Spaetzle. Growing up Spaetzle was always the side dish accompanying Mom's Beef Rouladen so I made both (along with asparagus). What a mess!

Mom made making spaetzle look pretty easy but to be honest it isn't. I think I added a little too much water to the dough (which was pretty thick) so it dripped off the spoon in between me cutting the spaetzle off. I ended up with some pretty oddly shaped spaetzle (so odd, I didn't photograph them) and lots of angle hair thin short noodle pieces. They tasted great so I'm not deterred. I do want to perfect the recipe (and maybe even try them vegan) before posting it.

The rouladen wasn't as big a mess, although I did forget to add mustard until I was rolling the last one. Oh, how fun to have to unroll all of them and start over! Also, even if it does end up costing more, I will never again by a bottom roast and cut my own, I'll buy the meat sliced already.

Anyhow, dessert was delicious. I made Key Lime Squares (listed under Lemon Squares) from Gluten-Free Baking Classics. Next time I try these I think I'll add a little green food coloring (note to self: I need to buy green food coloring) as the Key Lime juice has a yellowish/brown color and so did the finished squares. They did taste great so being the wrong color wasn't too big of a set back!

Manicotti - gluten free/dairy free/vegan(?)

Every year at Christmas there are always Manicotti on the menu. I haven't had these since I was in high school (18 years ago, ouch!) I decided this year I would try making GF/DF manicotti (if I had time, I would try Vegan as well, but at least at first I planned on including some egg.)

Anyhow, my first attempt was on Friday night and they didn't turn out half bad. The recipe was fairly simple and a quick conversion from Mom's gluten and dairy inclusive recipe. I even made one before I added the egg to the filling and to be honest it wasn't that different from those with egg in them. I think next time I'll keep them all vegan.

So, why isn't this posted as a success and where is the recipe? Ah, the joys of trying to make thin crepes without them sticking, or folding over on themselves! I had a couple of 'disaster' and oddly shaped manicottis! I also included all the spices from my tofu lasagna filling and I'd like to try it without the basil next time. The real mistake however was that I baked them covered and the dough ended up gooey. I'm going to try the recipe again uncovered to see how it turns out. If everything sets fully then I'll be posting the results (complete with photos) so stay tuned!

GF/DF Baked Ziti (Success!)

Since I had half a package of Vegan Gourmet Soy Mozzarella left from making Lasagna last weekend, I decided to make some baked Ziti this weekend. I used Bionaturae penne. My favorite pasta is Ancient Harvest Quinoa but they don't make a ziti or a penne. Bionaturae held up pretty well and tastes good. It is one of the more expensive gf pastas unfortunately. Overall, this recipe is almost identical to the Lasagna recipe but I've split them out for easier searching.

GF/DF Baked Ziti

Ingredients:
1 package of gluten free ziti or similar pasta (12oz.)
1 block Vegan Gourmet Mozzarella Cheese (enough shredded to cover top, about 1/3 to 1/2 the block)

Tofu Mixture:
1 package soft tofu (14oz)
1 tbs dried parsley
1 tsp dried basil
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp oregano
1/2 cup sauce (I don’t eat a lot of tomatoes and therefore use much less then most)
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil the pasta as directed being careful not to over boil. Remove when still very al dente (they will continue to cook while baking).

Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl combine tofu, ½ cup of sauce, parsley, basil, garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper. Hint: crumble the dry spices in the palm of your hand before adding to increase their flavor. Use a whisk to crumble the tofu until it resembles the ricotta cheese used in real baked ziti. (Do not use shredded mozzarella in the mixture; it will not melt like real mozzarella unless it is broiled on top.)

Preheat the oven to 375.

Combine the drained pasta and tofu mixture an oven safe casserole dish. Bake, covered, at 375 for 20-30 minutes until heated through. Remove from the oven and cover with shredded soy mozzarella. Place under the broiler and broil – watching carefully until shredded cheese begins to bubble. Remove promptly once the cheese is melted as shortly thereafter it will blacken and then burn. (Note – Soy cheese will not melt unless it is broiled in this fashion.) [Warning, if you bake the soy mozzarella on top of the lasagna it may dry out and not melt as much when you broil it, it is better to add after baking.]

Serves four. (or for me: dinner, lunch the next day, dinner again, etc. etc.!)

GF/DF Lasagna (Adventure)

Ok, this one is definitely getting better but it still isn’t 100%. The first time I tried Gluten Free/Dairy Free lasagna I used no-boil noodles by DeBoles. Apparently, real ricotta must have more moisture in it than did my tofu mixture as the noodles didn’t cook in the oven and my lasagna came out crunchy. (Crunchy really isn’t an adjective one wants to use to describe lasagna!) Anyhow, the last 2-3 times I used Tinkyada lasagna noodles which were better. My pan is 8” by 8” and the noodles are about 10” however so after boiling them those that are too long I have to cut (with kitchen scissors). I find that Tinkyada pasta isn’t really that good and I find that the lasagna noodles fall apart a bit too much and in the wrong places (the frilly edge came off most of them!) Next time I try this I think I’ll use DeBoles and just boil them first. (As with all Tinkyada pasta products, do not boil for the suggested cooking time or you will have mush, start testing about halfway through their recommended time.)

GF/DF Lasagna

Ingredients:
1 box gluten free lasagna noodles (Tinkyada or Deboles) 10oz
1/2 cup sauce (at least ½ cup - I don’t eat a lot of tomatoes and therefore I use much less sauce then most)
1 block Vegan Gourmet Mozzarella Cheese (enough shredded to cover top, about 1/3 to 1/2 the block)

Tofu Mixture:
1 package soft tofu (14oz)
1 tbs dried parsley
1 tsp dried basil
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp oregano
1/2 cup sauce (again, I don’t eat a lot of tomatoes and therefore use much less then most)
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil the noodles for 10 minutes (Tinkyada says 15-16 min but this is way too long) or until done. Drain, rinse with cold water and lay out flat before they crumple and/or stick together.

Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl combine tofu, ½ cup of sauce, parsley, basil, garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper. Hint: crumble the dry spices in the palm of your hand before adding to increase their flavor. Use a whisk to crumble the tofu until it resembles the ricotta cheese filling of real lasagna. (Do not use shredded mozzarella in the mixture; it will not melt like real mozzarella unless it is broiled on top.)

Preheat the oven to 375.

Coat the bottom of a lasagna pan with ¼ cup sauce.

When the noodles are ready, add a single layer to the pan topped by a layer of the tofu mixture. Alternate layers until you are out of noodles (hint preserve some of the better [unbroken] noodles for the top). Spread the remaining ¼ cup of sauce on the top layer of noodles. Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes until heated through. Remove from the oven and cover with shredded soy mozzarella. Place under the broiler and broil – watching carefully until shredded cheese begins to bubble. Remove promptly once the cheese is melted as shortly thereafter it will blacken and then burn. (Note – Soy cheese will not melt unless it is broiled in this fashion.) [Warning, if you bake the soy mozzerella on top of the lasagna it may dry out and not melt as much when you broil it, it is better to add after baking.]

Serves four. (ok, technically, it serves me four times! Ah, the joys of living alone . . . )

Variations:

Meat Lasagna – include cooked ground beef either in the tofu mixture or in a layer on top of the lasagna but below the shredded cheese. (I used ground up meatballs on top of the last one I made.)

Baked Ziti – use the tofu mixture tossed with cooked pasta (ziti, etc) place both in a casserole dish and cover w/ shredded soy mozzarella. Bake for twenty minutes then broil while watching carefully until the cheese melts.

Lasagna rolls – Haven’t tried this yet but should be able to use tofu mixture in individually rolled Lasagna noodles.

Stuffed Shells – I’ve used this same Tofu mixture to stuff shells. Bake once stuffed (one could add shredded soy cheese to the tops of these and broil as well I suppose.)

If you try this recipe and have success please let me know by leaving a comment below!