Cannelloni

There are some excellent cannelloni tubes in dried pasta form but with the release of new fresh gluten free lasagne sheets, I recently had a go at making my own tubes with them.

It produced excellent cannelloni and so I thought I would share what I do.

Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni

Ingredients

2 Chicken Breasts

1 litre GF Chicken Stock

125g chopped Spinach (I use frozen)

250g Ricotta

30-40g slivered almonds roughly chopped 

Method

I like to poach my chicken breast first, so in a medium sized saucepan, bring 1 litre of gluten free liquid chicken stock to the boil (I use Massel) add chicken breasts and reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes.  Cook spinach during this time and set aside.

Remove chicken from stock and blitz in a food processor together with the cooked spinach.

Combine chicken/spinach mixture with chopped almonds & ricotta and incorporate well.

Heat lasagne sheets according to packet directions/individual microwave power.  This aids in ease of rolling but you must still work relatively quickly.  Keep remaining sheets under plastic wrap whilst working on another.

I like to use a store-bought pasta sauce keeping the flavours simple - remembering that the hero here is the pasta filling. Any sauce should compliment not take over.  I like to use a gluten free (by ingredient) Passata type sauce. Italian Tomato and Basil. Perfect.

Spread a little sauce in the base of a rectangular lasagne dish. Arrange cannelloni in a single layer immediately on top and cover generously with more sauce. Dress with cheese and a sprinkling of Italian herbs, cover with foil and into a 180°C oven for 45 minutes, removing the foil in the last 5 minutes.

Delicious and moreish. Enjoy!

(The above ingredients made about 15 tubes so I made 2 dishes. A large dish holding 10 tubes and a smaller rectangle with 5)

Penne with mushroom, chicken & chorizo (with chilli & garlic pesto)

Quick dinner ideas.. yes please!

After a long day I'm afraid quick dinner prep is very appealing.   

Thing is, I have some fussy eaters in the ranks right now.  Ugh..

On the upside, the youngest of the crew requested sausages and salad and coincidentally, there winking at me from the fridge were some I had prepared earlier.  Sausages anyway.  

Leftovers are a Godsend sometimes aren't they? Yes Sir.

So that took all of about 5 minutes to prepare.  WINNING.

For the big kids (yes me included) PASTA was on the menu.  I drew a bit of inspiration from the fabulous Donna Hay and used a combination of store-bought and fresh ingredients to prepare the following super quick.  ENJOY!  

Ingredients

GF Penne Pasta

1 Tablespoon Oil - I like to use Rice Bran Oil

500g skinless chicken thigh fillets sliced into smaller pieces - You could use chicken breast here but I think the thigh fillet has more flavour

1 Chorizo sausage - I use HANS Deli Selection   

1 small punnet of sliced mushrooms

Chilli & Garlic Pesto - I used a store-bought pesto by Jamie Oliver which was gluten free by ingredient (always check labels carefully) - I used 1/2 of a 190g jar - and let me tell you, it had a bit of KICK.

Parsley and a quality Parmesan to serve

Directions

Prepare Penne Pasta according to packet directions

I used 250g San Remo Gluten Free Penne for this recipe but there are heaps of fabulous GF pastas available

While the pasta is cooking, brown your chicken pieces in a little oil on a medium/high heat.

When almost cooked through, add sliced chorizo sausage. 

Remain on this heat until chicken is cooked through and a good colour is achieved with the chorizo.

Add mushrooms.

Drain pasta and add to your chicken/sausage/mushroom mix reducing heat to a minimum.

Stir through pesto ensuring pasta is well coated.

Serve with freshly chopped parsley and a good parmesan.

Too easy. 

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New - Barilla Gluten Free Pasta

When Barilla approached me recently and asked if I would be interested in sampling their new gluten free pasta, naturally I was delighted.

Barilla, already the world's largest pasta producer, has recently launched a gluten free pasta range that I was more than happy to road test.
Tonight I made my family a Chicken, Chorizo and Olive pasta dish using the gluten free Penne and incorporating the Barilla Basilico pasta sauce.

Out of interest, did you know that the entire Barilla pasta sauce range is gluten free?  Fantastico.
 
Let me start by saying that there are only 2 Coeliacs in my house, myself being one of them. The other - my 7 year old daughter hasn't quite developed the discerning palate as that of her older brother and dad - the two biggest and heartiest eaters in the house.  So whilst there are endless variations of delicious pasta dishes, this particular dish was aimed at the big boys. 

Tough crowd. I had my work cut out for me. Let's do this.

Ingredients

340g Barilla Gluten Free Penne
1 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 garlic glove finely chopped
1 long red chilli de-seeded and finely chopped
1 red onion finely sliced
2 medium chicken breast finely sliced
1  GF Chorizo sausage finely sliced
400g jar of Barilla Basilico sauce (Tomato Sauce with Basil) 
A generous handful of gluten free Kalamata olives
Finely chopped Continental Parsley to serve
Plenty of good quality shaved Parmesan to serve


Method

To 3 litres of boiling salted water I added the Penne and cooked for 10 minutes as recommended on the pack. 
Whilst the pasta is cooking, in a heavy based fry pan over a medium heat, add olive oil, garlic and an equal amount of de-seeded & finely chopped chilli. Sauté for about a minute before adding onions.  Once onion becomes limp and slightly translucent, remove from pan.   

Add thinly sliced chicken breast & sliced chorizo and sauté until chicken is just cooked through and desired colour is achieved. Turn heat down to low, return onions to the pan and add Basiico sauce. Drain pasta straight from the pot (I use a small sieve) - don't rinse and add immediately to sauce.  Make sure pasta is coated well.

Add a generous amount of Kalamata olives. Dish up a generous serving, dress with Continental Parsley and Parmesan and enjoy.

Barilla pasta is made in Italy in a dedicated gluten free factory and is a unique formulation of naturally gluten free flours (corn and rice) rather than refined starches.
The pasta is available in Spaghetti, Penne or Elbows and will be available nationally in Woolworth's stores from October and currently in independent grocers (RRP $3.69).

and the verdict..

Well.. from my point of view as the 'cook' AND the 'coeliac' the pasta cooks and tastes like regular pasta.  There was no strange aftertaste, no gritty or slimy end product and an 
al dente result was easily achievable.

and the big boys.. 

Let's just say there was almost no need to clean plates as they were almost scraped clean.  My husband stated, and I quote.. "That tasted just like normal pasta!"  
I'd say that's a WIN right there.  Nice one Barilla.  

and if you were wondering what the small people in the house ate.. they most certainly did not miss out.  I whipped them up an extra special Broccoli Mac and Cheese Gratin using the Barilla Elbows.  Perfect for little tums and taste buds.  A post for another day.. 

Barilla sent me the above products to sample

All opinions expressed are my own.  I was not paid for this post.

FROZEN Lasagna! You're kidding right?

I'm often surprised at the amount of people that buy frozen lasagna then lament about how bland it tasted.. and yet they keep on buying it.

I'm sure its a time-poor thing. Yes, buying ready-made (just heat and eat) is convenient but making lasagna at home is REALLY easy AND takes less time than you think.  Plus I am yet to find a frozen GLUTEN FREE version anyway so if you want it, you've got to make it yourself!  Our family eat it at least once a week.  Do you think I would be making it this regularly if it was a chore? Pfft.. I think NOT.

So I'm happy to share what I do.

You can use fresh Gluten Free lasagna sheets if you can find them otherwise I use SAN REMO gluten free instant lasagna sheets and they always deliver a great result.  I have also used CASALARE gluten free instant lasagna sheets and they work just as well.

1.  Preheat your oven to 180° and lightly grease a lasagna dish (roughly 20cm x 30cm and deep enough to do about 3 layers - say 5-6cm) 

2.  Add a tablespoon of oil  to a large fry pan (I like to use Rice Bran Oil but that's just me).  To this add 1 teaspoon of fresh garlic (approx 1 clove OR the jars or tubes of minced garlic are really handy and keep well in the refrigerator for around 6-8 weeks).  Add your mince (approximately 800-900grams of quality beef mince ) and brown.  About 3-4 minutes.

3.  Now you can make your own sauce but there are plenty of store bought sauces that are fantastic and gluten free by ingredient.  You don't need to stick to the health food aisle of your supermarket - just use your label reading skills and you have a myriad of sauce options at your fingertips.   Need help reading labels - click here → A Guide to Reading Labels.  If you have time to make your own sauce, good for you (seriously.. good for you) - knock yourself out.  Here's even a good recipe you might like to try - Homemade Tomato Pasta Sauce (Taste.com.au)   

4.  Add your sauce to the mince, turn the heat down to a minimum and let the meat sauce simmer while you make your bechemel sauce.  Bechamel Sauce!! What! That sounds fancy and complicated.  Well it's not.  It's basically butter, gluten free cornflour, milk and a pinch of nutmeg - and it's easy. You can add some Parmesan to your mix but I figure with the amount of cheese I add on top of the completed lasagna, we could probably do without the extra cheese.. just saying.

5.  So I add 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of butter to a small saucepan (on gentle heat) & while that's melting add 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of gluten free cornflour and mix with a whisk until your ingredients thicken and become a roux.  Remove from heat, add your milk slowly and keep stirring until your mix is completely blended and smooth.  Add a pinch of nutmeg.  Return to heat and stir until sauce boils and thickens.  Turn off the heat and set aside. 

6.  Assembly time.  A layer of meat sauce, then a layer of lasagna (3 pieces is usually sufficient to fit into this size dish).  Then 2 more layers but this time with meat sauce, BECHAMEL sauce, then lasagna.  Your final layer will not require a pasta top  - instead top with a generous amount of grated cheese & finish with a sprinkling of dried Italian herbs.  Then into the oven for 45 minutes it goes. 

Bon Appetit