Life, Gluten Free

Potato Stuffed Pasta Shells with Tomato Sauce

Every now and then, we're all in need of a bit of fun. Call me crazy, but I find a lot of excitement in culinary adventure. We started using these large rice pasta shells a while ago. I've stuffed them with a rice pilaf, which was excellent. I should make it again and post a recipe. But this time, I stuffed them with mashed potatoes. It came out excellent too, I hope you try it!

I used this recipe for the lemon and dill mashed potatoes with avocado. I stuffed the grand shells with that mixture and topped with a tomato sauce. I made the tomato sauce myself and included capers. You can create a sauce or use a pre-prepared sauce. When I make tomato sauce, I use pureed tomatoes and tomato paste. My favorite brand of tomatoes to use is bionaturae.

I saute onions and then I add the tomato sauce and paste. I also add herbs like basil and oregano. I can't even remember the last time that I had a store bought sauce. I started making my own tomato sauce when I was a kid and became addicted ever since :) It just tastes so much better!

The sauce I made with this dish did not include onions because Sophie is allergic to them. I either make her a sauce on the side without onions or just make a sauce without them for everyone, which I did this time. So, if you are allergic to onions or don't like them, you can definitely leave them out!

The grand shells by tinkyada are really fun to use and we like to experiment with creating things to stuff them with. Next, I'm thinking some type of squash. There will be more recipes to come that include these shells - yum!

And if your house is like mine, then topping with olives is a must :)

-heather

Potato Lasagna

Potato Lasagna

NO: gluten, eggs, dairy, nuts

Ingredients:  

6 large sized potatoes
1 pack tinyada lasagna noodles

2 medium sized tomatoes

2 yellow onions

2 cups frozen broccoli 

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon basil

Preparation:

Boil potatoes until done.

Blend potatoes with a hand mixer to make mashed potatoes. 

Add salt to taste. 

Add 1 tablespoon of earth balance (or your choice of butter or oil) and continue to blend the potatoes.

Saute onion and broccoli in olive oil and add to the mashed potatoes.

Add herbs. Taste and adjust to meet your taste buds!

Boil the lasagna noodles per the directions on the box.

In a glass dish, layer the noodles with mashed potatoes and diced tomato.

Spread earth balance or oil on top of the last layer of noodles.

Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes.

You can also top with cheese and add olives.

This is really good variation on lasagna. It is dairy-free but still creamy and good!

-heather

Penne with Sundried Tomato Sauce

The recipe came from my friend Kelly at The Spunky Coconut. I made her recipe for Penne with Tangy Tomato Sauce but I used onion powder instead of garlic powder. I also decided to use Golden Balsamic Vinegar instead of regular balsamic vinegar. 

This sauce is a great alternative to the usual tomato pasta sauce. I have been on a kick lately, making a lot of homemade pasta sauce. But this sauce was a nice change, and it was very quick and easy to make.

If you like tangy, sweet and a little salty, then this is definitely a must-try sauce. I am going to be making it again soon! I already stocked up on the penne! You could even use both onion powder and garlic powder. We have an allergy to garlic, unfortunately.

Ingredients:

10 sundried tomatoes

1/2 cup of organic extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons golden balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon raw honey

1/4 teaspoon himalayan salt

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

Puree until sauce is mixed well.

Top over gluten-free penne pasta or your favorite pasta! We used Tinkyada Penne.

We enjoyed this with some green olives and a salad. Thanks Kelly! Great recipe!

-heather