Manicotti, or lasagna rolls with vegetables

A while ago I saw a recipe for baked manicotti in Cooks Illustrated. The idea was that instead of trying to stuff slippery manicotti noodles, you soak some lasagna noodles and roll them up with filling. That way you don't have to struggle with messy filling of slippery noodles, but still have pretty much the same thing. I thought I'd try it, after getting a comment on my Facebook page asking for a manicotti recipe.

It worked out well, except I forgot that gluten free lasagna noodles are so skinny. Ideally I would have rolled these into long tubes, but the noodles are so skinny that would have been more trouble than it was worth. Instead I rolled these up into fat little rolls, so they're more like rolled up lasagna and less like manicotti. It's got the same flavors, and idea as manicotti, so this is the best I can do without making my own noodles (a project for another time) or buying gluten free manicotti noodles (do those even exist?).

See? Lasagna roll ups. Oh and the best part! I snuck in a bunch of vegetables. Not that I have picky kids or anything, but I haven't been eating enough vegetables (does anyone?) so I added frozen spinach to the cheese filling and shredded carrots to the tomato sauce. Sneaky!

Manicotti, or lasagna rolls
This makes about a dozen rolls, I only baked the six pictured above and froze the rest. When it's time to eat those ones, I will probably stick them straight from the freezer into the oven and bake about an hour or so. 


1 box gluten free lasagna noodles (I used these)
1 28oz can of tomato puree
3/4 t salt
1 t chili flakes
1 t sugar
6 cloves garlic, minced and divided
2 T chopped basil divided
2 T tomato paste
1 16oz container of ricotta cheese (Maplebrook is my FAVORITE)
1/4 c grated Parm cheese, plus more for topping
1 bag frozen spinach, thawed and drained well
2 eggs
1/2 t paprika
1/2 t dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
6 carrots, peeled and grated

Set a kettle of water to boil and lay the lasagna noodles in a baking dish. When the water comes to a boil, pour it over the noodles, poking them once in a while with a knife to keep them from sticking. Preheat the oven to 350. Combine the tomatoes, salt, chili flakes, sugar, half of the garlic, half of the basil, and tomato paste in a pan and bring to a simmer. Cook until everything else is done. Combine the rest of the garlic and basil, ricotta cheese, parm, spinach, eggs, paprika, and oregano. Add salt and pepper to taste. Check to see if the noodles are softened yet. This might take 15-20 minutes, but be patient. When the noodles are soft enough to roll without breaking them, drain them and rinse them with cold water. Dry them off as best you can with paper towels. Add the carrots to the tomato sauce, then spread enough of the sauce on the bottom of a baking dish to cover it.

Now it's time to roll the noodles! One noodle at a time, spread the filling on 3/4 of each noodle, leaving one end without filling. Roll them up, starting with the side with the filling, and place each noodle roll end side down in the tomato sauce. Repeat with all the noodles. Don't go too crazy with the filling, you just need a thin layer on each noodle, you don't want it to ooze out the sides as you're rolling. Once you've rolled all the noodles, spread tomato sauce all over the top, then sprinkle with cheese. Cover and bake 30 minutes.
Serve with garlic bread and salad, if you have it.

Peanut noodles and tofu

So our vegan challenge is finished, and sorry for not posting more about it. We're still unpacking, a month later. We're been working, and driving, and visiting my family, and digging a garden. Turns out I have a problem buying plants - I can't help myself. Pictures to come, once we've finished planting.

One of my favorite vegan meals we had was peanut noodles with tofu. I've been buying fresh tofu, made locally. I forget the brand. In the picture I used spinach Tinkyada spaghetti, but it's just as good with regular spaghetti. Or even rice noodles, if it's too hot to cook for too long.

Peanut noodles and tofu

Adapted from epicurious.com

1 block tofu, cut into cubes and patted dry

1 T olive oil

1 package gf pasta, spaghetti or angel hair, cooked

1/2 c peanut butter (I've used both smooth and crunchy and like both equally)

1/4 c soy sauce

1/4 c warm water

2 T minced ginger

1 clove smashed garlic

2 T rice or cider vinegar

2 T sesame oil

2 T honey

hot pepper flakes to taste

Heat the oil in a large pan, and cook the tofu. I like to cook it a long time on each side, so it gets crispy on each side, then shake the pan around. Sometimes I get crazy and sprinkle it with garlic powder and pepper.

In the blender, combine everything else (peanut butter to pepper flakes) and taste. You might want to add a little more peanut butter or honey, or some chili oil. Toss with the noodle right before you serve it, then top with tofu. This is good warm, or cold for lunch the next day.

Pierogi(s)

I haven't made pierogi since I went gluten-free, which means I haven't eaten pierogi since I went gluten free. I wanted to do a project today, but one that didn't involve baking. Or the oven. Pasta! That doesnt' involve the oven! The stove yes, but I didn't need to stand over it all day. Just be nearby for checking and stirring. I got to catch up on the Harry Potter marathon that's been on all weekend, because I am an adult.

Potato Pierogi(s)

I can't figure out if pierogi is one of those words that is plural without an s, like mice. Do you know? Anyway, this recipe is from my brain, but I modified this pasta recipe from March's DB.

for the pasta

3/4 c sorghum flour

1/4 c teff flour

3/4 c cornstarch

a scant 1 c tapioca starch

1 c potato starch

3/4 c sweet rice flour (also known as glutenous rice flour), plus extra

1 1/2 t xanthan gum

1 t salt

6 eggs

a little more than 1/4 c milk

3 T olive oil

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a medium sized bowl, beat 4 eggs, milk, and olive oil. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, and stir together. Add remaining eggs one at a time. If the dough feels too sticky, add a bit more sweet rice flour. Knead the dough with your hands, then wrap in plastic wrap and let sit an hour or so.

for the filling and finishing

2 potatoes, peeled

1 large onion

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 stick butter

salt

1 t paprika

1 t dried parsley

Peel and cube the potatoes, then put in a large pot of water with 2 t salt and bring to a simmer. Cook until the potatoes are tender, between 10-20 minutes depending on how large you cut them. Cut the onion in half. Dice one half, and saute in 1 T butter with the garlic until soft but not browned. Set aside. Melt another tablespoon of butter, and thinly slice the other half of the onion. Cook the sliced onion over low heat for 20 minutes, until starting to caramelize. When the potatoes are tender, mash with the onions and garlic, 1 T butter, salt to taste, paprika and parsley. Let cool while the pasta rests.

Line a large cutting board or your table with plastic wrap. Divide the dough into quarters, keeping the dough you aren't using at the moment covered with a towel or plastic wrap. Roll out the first dough ball to between 1/4 and 1/8" thick, as thin as you can. Using a circle cookie cutter or a cup, cut as many circles as you can. Place one round in the palm of your hand, and put a ball of potato mix in the center. Pinch the edges shut, and line up on a cookie sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough, rerolling the scraps as you go.

Once all the pierogi are formed, bring a large pot of water to boil. Slide the pierogi in, but only as many as will fit in the pot without crowding. I cooked half of them in one batch. Once they rise to the top, cook another 8-10 minutes until the dough is cooked through. If you're unsure, cut a corner off one pierogi and taste it.

When the pierogi are almost cooked, add the last tablespoon of butter to the pan with the onions. As soon as the pierogi are cooked, add them to the pan with the butter and onions, and cook a few minutes, letting the pierogi get crispy in places. Serve with sour cream, if you'd like.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Remember the chocolate angel food cake yesterday? The problem with making that cake is that you're left with at least 9 egg yolks. What to do with them? I was going to make pudding, or custard, or something along those lines, but we didn't have a lot of milk. We also had no cream. I looked up things to do with egg yolks, and pasta carbonara kept coming up. I'm not sure if I've ever had it before, but in theory it sounded good.

All you do is cook some pasta, save a little bit of the pasta water, mix it together with some cooked bacon, egg yolks, Parmesan cheese, and pepper, and voila! Pasta carbonara. The hot pasta cooks the egg yolks a bit, if you're worried about raw eggs. You can add things like peas for color, or mushrooms, or cream instead of pasta water, but that's more alfredo-y to me. This was delicious as it was, the only crazy thing I did was add a few cloves of garlic. This is a super simple meal, that takes only the amount of time it takes to cook pasta. Maybe not the healthiest, but we balanced it out with a big bowl of sauteed vegetables.

Pasta carbonara

gluten-free pasta of your choice

6 slices bacon, chopped into bits

4 cloves garlic, chopped

4-10 egg yolks

1/2 c Parmesan cheese

1/2 c pasta water

pepper, to taste

Start the pasta cooking according to the directions for whichever kind of pasta you're using. Cook the bacon until crispy, then drain, saving a few tablespoons of the fat. Cook the garlic in the fat until fragrant, and let cool a little. Mix together in a large bowl with the cooked bacon, garlic, egg yolks, and cheese. Once the pasta is cooked to your liking, add to the bowl with everything else, along with the pasta water. stir everything together, and serve immediately, sprinkling with as much pepper as you'd like.

Daring Bakers March- Lasagna!

Good news. We've moved! Alex and I, not the website. We are still unpacking and assembling, which I think we will be doing for quite a while, but we're HERE. The old house still needs a little love, but we have until Tuesday to get it done. I do have the kitchen unpacked, which I guess is all that really matters.

And for the first post in the new house, this month's Daring Baker's Challenge! This month we made lasagna, which was awesome. I made every part from scratch. The noodles, the ragu, the bechemel, the ricotta (see my post on March 13), everything except the mozzarella and Parmesan. And while the whole process took about six hours, it was really, really good. I served this for dinner to some friends, and everyone ate a hefty slice, and then went back for seconds.

The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

Gluten Free Egg Pasta

The choice of the first flour is personal. The original recipe called for corn flour because the subtle taste blended well with the dish. However, this is a matter of personal taste – please feel free to substitute a different flour for the corn flour but don't substitute a starch. I used rice flour and thought that was delicious.

1 c rice flour (or other flour of your choice)
3/4 c corn starch
scant 1 c tapioca starch
1 c potato starch
3/4 c sweet rice flour
1 1/2 t xanthan gum
1 t salt
6 eggs
3/8 cup of water
3 T olive oil

Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients.

Whisk together 3 eggs, the water and the oil. Pour into the middle of the dry ingredients. Mix with a sturdy wooden spoon, gradually drawing more of the flour mix into the wet ingredients. Add each egg as needed. The dough will be crumbly at the beginning but will gradually come together as you add the eggs. You will need to use your hands to squeeze and mix the dough.

The dough will be firm and stick together when ready. It will not have the elasticity of gluten dough therefore it will crack when kneaded and pushed. Form it into a smooth ball, oil it lightly, and cover securely with plastic wrap. Let it rest for an hour.

Put a sheet of plastic wrap on your work surface. This is very important as the dough will not hold together very well when lifted. Have flour ready for dusting (I used rice flour) and dust the surface lightly. Cut a piece of dough about the size of really large egg – it doesn’t matter the size but start small for the first one to gauge how much space you need. Keep the remaining dough covered so it does not dry.

Roll the dough into a ball and flatten into a disc with your hands. Put it on your work surface and flatten with your hands. Use a rolling pin and gently push the dough down and out ward from the center. You may have to place one hand on the plastic wrap as you push the dough down and away. Gluten free dough does not stretch like wheat dough therefore it needs gentle flattening and pushing. If it breaks, pat it back together. If it is too dry, dab a little water with your finger. The gluten free dough will be thicker than wheat dough and you will barely be able to see your hand through the dough. Once it is flattened, cut into strips or squares that will fit your pan. Alternately, use a pasta roller, which I did.

Set the dough aside on the plastic sheet. There is no need to dry the dough. But if you do dry the dough, it will not be able to hang because it will break. Stack the rolled out dough with plastic sheets in between.

Stack the sheets when dry and wrap securely. Store in the fridge until ready to use. Freezing will make the dough crumbly and difficult to work with – so freeze only as a last resort!This dough does not need to be precooked before being assembled into the lasagne.

Cheese bechamel

4 T unsalted butter
4 T rice flour (or sorghum flour, if using that use 3 T)
2 2/3 c milk
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 t paprika
1 c grated cheese (I used mozzarella)

Using a medium-sized saucepan, melt the butter over low to medium heat. Sift over the flour, whisk until smooth, and then stir (without stopping) for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk a little at a time and keep the mixture smooth. Bring to a slow simmer, and stir 3 to 4 minutes, or until the sauce thickens. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat, season with salt, pepper, and paprika, then stir in cheese.

My Version of Country Style Ragu’ (Ragu alla Contadina)

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
1 carrot, minced
6 cloves garlic
1 lb ground beef
1 lb sausage (I used a mix of sweet and hot)
1 to 1 1/2 lb (total) cubed beef, pork and veal (often sold together in a 'gravy pack')
2 t paprika
1 t thyme
1 c red wine
1 1/2 c chicken or beef stock
2 cups milk
1 can tomatoes, diced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Working Ahead:
The ragu can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. It also freezes well for up to 1 month. Skim the fat from the ragu’ before using it.

Browning the Ragu Base:
Heat the olive oil in a deep pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and carrot and sauté, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, 10 minutes, or until the onions barely begin to color. Add meat to the pan, sprinkle with paprika and thyme, and slowly brown over medium heat (do this in two batches if necessary). First the meats will give off a liquid and turn dull gray but, as the liquid evaporates, browning will begin. Stir often, scooping under the meats with the wooden spatula. Protect the brown glaze forming on the bottom of the pan by turning the heat down. Cook 15 minutes, or until the meats are a deep brown. Turn the contents of the skillet into a strainer and shake out the fat.

Add meats back to the pot, then add the wine, lowering the heat so the sauce bubbles quietly. Stir occasionally until the wine has reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Scrape up the brown glaze as the wine bubbles. Stir ½ cup stock into the saucepan and let it bubble slowly, 10 minutes, or until totally evaporated. Repeat with another ½ cup stock. Stir in the last 1/2 cup stock along with the milk. Adjust heat so the liquid bubbles very slowly. Partially cover the pot, and cook 1 hour. Stir frequently to check for sticking.

Add the tomatoes, and cook uncovered, at a very slow bubble for another 45 minutes, or until the sauce resembles a thick, meaty stew. Season with salt and pepper.

Assemble the Lasagna

1. Lightly grease your lasagna pan. Then pour 3 T water or stock in the bottom of the pan.
2. Spread a thin layer of ragu on the bottom of the pan.
3. Place a layer of lasagna noodles (uncooked!) on the ragu.
4. Top with cheese sauce, more ragu, then a good sprinkling of Parmesan and mozzarella cheese.
5. Add another layer of pasta, then repeat. I had six or seven layers. Keep going until you run out of everything. Cover with a final layer of ragu and cheese.
6. Pour a tablespoon of water or stock down the each of the corners of the pan. Cover tightly with foil, and bake 45 minutes at 350.
7. Remove the foil and bake another 15, until starting to brown just a little. Let rest 15 minutes before you try to cut and serve it (longer is better).

You call it American Chop Suey, I call it homemade Hamburger Helper

I have some bad news. My trusty laptop has stopped recognizing that it's plugged in, and it only has about 20 minutes of juice left. Right now I'm using Alex's Mac, which is fine (I guess), but I don't have the cord to hook my camera up to it. My laptop has this nice little slot where I just stick my memory card and poof, my pictures are uploaded. So this might be my last post for a while, unless I can quick squeeze in another session or figure out some way to get my pictures from my camera onto the computer without the cord (and without buying anything new). I'm taking my computer to the doctor tomorrow (don't worry, it's still under warranty for another few months) so cross yuor fingers they can fix it right then and not have to *sob send it away! Cross your fingers for me guys, I don't want to take a vacation from posting!

The good news is that this is a really good recipe, and takes maybe a half an hour from start to finish, and is delicious and cheap. It's also really flexible, you can switch out the ground beef for pork or chicken or sausage or whatever you want, and switch up the veggies and cheese.
American Chop Suey
This dish has as many names as variations.

1 lb ground meat
1 T olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
one package of mushrooms, sliced (I used shiitake but feel free to use button or crimini or anything else)
2 t paprika (I used one each of hot and smoked but use whatever you have)
1 t chili powder
1 t thyme
salt and pepper
a handful frozen corn
a can (or jar) of tomato sauce (about two cups)
1 c stock (or milk)
pasta of your choice (I used about 6 oz of Mrs Leepers rice spirals)
1 c shredded cheese (or more, cheddar or mozzarella are good)
Optional: more vegetables, such as diced carrots or peppers, sliced green beans, or any other vegetable you like. You can also splash in a bit of Worcestershire sauce if you'd like.

Heat the oil in a large pan (big enough to hold everything). Add the beef and brown, about 10 minutes. Remove the beef to a bowl, draining off all but about a tablespoon of fat. Return the pan to the heat and cook the onions until softened, then add the garlic and mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms are starting to brown, but nothing is burning. Add any other vegetables (except frozen corn or peas) that you're using with the mushrooms. Add the paprika, chili and thyme, some salt and pepper, and stir to coat. Add the meat back in, add the corn, and then dump in the sauce and stock and bring to a simmer. Add the pasta, cover, and cook 8-10 minutes, until the pasta is cooked. Stir in cheese right before serving, and then sprinkle with another bit of cheese when you're plating. This makes enough to serve 4 (recipe can be halved or doubled).

Three cheese and sausage lasagna

I've been wanting homemade pasta lately. At home I have a pasta roller machine I got last Christmas when I was making a lot of pasta (actually, it might have been the Christmas before), but it's been sadly out of use lately. I am back in Massachusetts, visiting my mom (who broke her shoulder) for a while, and decided tonight was the night to make pasta. Mom had some spicy sausage from Wholefoods in her fridge, and ricotta, and we ran out to get some mozzarella and we were all set. I made the pasta (really, it only took 10 minutes from the time the first ingredient hit the bowl to the time when I dropped it in the water), and mom made the sauce. Oooooh man, was this delicious. I will be making this for Alex as soon as I get back to Philly. 

Homemade Pasta 

From Bette Hagman's The Gluten Free Gourmet, with modifications

1/3 c tapioca starch

2 T potato starch

1/3 c cornstarch

2 T rice flour

1/2 t salt

1 T xanthan gum

2 eggs

1 T olive oil

Combine the tapioca starch, potato starch, cornstarch, rice flour, salt, and xanthan gum, then make a well in the middle. Mix in the eggs and oil and stir until combined. Dust your hands with rice flour and knead the dough into a ball, dusting with more rice flour as necessary. Roll very thin (as thin as you can) and cut into rough rectangles about 3"x5". Bring a pot of water to boil, with 1 t of salt and a splash of olive oil. Cook noodles 8-10 minutes, then break off a corner and taste to see if they're done. 

Drain, then run under cool water to make cool enough to handle. 

Sausage and mushroom tomato sauce

1 lb hot sausage

1 T olive oil

1 container (8 oz or so) mushrooms, sliced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced (or more)

1 onion, diced

1/2 c red wine

2 cans (28 oz) tomatoes, diced or crushed

1 t sugar

2 bay leaves 

1 t oregano

Brown the sausage in the olive oil, then remove to a bowl. Cook mushrooms, garlic, and onion over medium heat, then add meat back to pan. Stir in red wine and let cook a minute, then add tomatoes, sugar, bay, and oregano. Let simmer for 20 minutes. 

Vegetarian? Omit sausage, and stir in a package of thawed, frozen spinach 5 minutes before the sauce is done. 

Lasagna 

1 batch lasagna noodles, above

sausage and mushroom tomato sauce

1 c ricotta cheese

1 1/2 c grated mozzarella cheese

1/2 c grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly oil the bottom of your lasagna pan, then lay down a bit of sauce. Lay on top a layer of noodles, then top with more sauce. Drop teaspoonfuls of ricotta around on top of the sauce, then sprinkle with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. Repeat, starting with noodles, until all noodles are gone, then end with a layer of cheese. Bake 20-30 minutes, until bubbling and slightly browned. 

Macaroni and cheese pancakes

Dana is here visiting, and today we made breakfast. Kind of hungover, greasy, unhealthy breakfast. Macaroni and cheese pancakes. (Yes, really). The NY Times Magazine had an article a while back about Kenny Shopsin's breakfast place in NYC, where he serves such things. Read the menu, it's beautiful. However, those of us who are gluten-free can't go there, he doesn't appreciate anyone asking to have things special made. Oh well. 

We had macaroni and cheese last night, and of course had a little leftover. We grated some more cheese, and whipped up some pancake batter (we decided on cornmeal pancakes instead of regular ones, which we thought was a great choice) and made some macaroni and cheese pancakes. They were surprisingly, really, really good. Dana ate hers with BBQ sauce, I ate mine plain, but if my stomach hadn't hurt so much I might have tried them with honey or syrup. 

Macaroni and Cheese Pancakes

Pancake recipe previously posted here. 

1 c cornmeal

1 T honey

1 t Kosher salt

3/4 c boiling water

2 t baking powder

1/2 c milk

2 T oil

1/2 c flour mix

1/4 t xanthan gum

1 c cooked gluten free macaroni

1/2 c shredded cheese

Combine cornmeal, honey and salt in a bowl. Pour over the water, stir, and cover. Let sit for 10 minutes. Add the baking powder, milk, oil, flour mix, and xanthan gum and stir to combine. Heat up your griddle or cast iron pan with a tiny bit of oil, until when you drop a drop of water onto the pan it sizzles. Spoon batter onto hot pan, and when one side is done (bubbles have risen to the surface and popped, cake moves easily when pushed with a spatula), sprinkle some macaroni evenly over the uncooked side, then top with cheese. Carefully flip over, press down with the back of the spatula and let cook a few minutes until crispy on the bottom. Repeat with the rest of the batter. 

Gnocchi!!!!!

Happy Daylight Savings! I hope everyone remembered and didn't go into work an hour early! (Those of you who work weekends, like me)
Yesterday was a storm that seemed like the end of the world. I took a nap yesterday after work and ten minutes later I was woken up because the sky was falling. It was 50 degrees and sleeting like I'd never seen, then it stopped, the sun came out, and then a few hours later the sky turned black. And got cold. It was weird. Anyway, I made a special meal for Alex last night, I cooked mussels for the first time (Ma, they came out great!!) and made gnocchi on the side. I've made them before since going gluten free, once, and liked them a lot, but I saw a new recipe I wanted to try on the glutenfreeda site. It turned out to not work for me, maybe because I wasn't using a bread-mix flour. Oh well, I experimented and came out with perfect, fluffy, gnocchi anyway. Take that!
Gnocchi
2 lb russet potatoes (about 3)
about 2 cups of flour mix
1 t salt
1/2 t xanthan gum
1 egg

Scrub potatoes clean, then poke holes in them and bake at 400 for about an hour, until they're cooked through. Split in half and let cool for a while, then add salt and mash them or put them through a ricer (I don't have one, I mashed mine, but all the recipes I've seen say rice them!!!!). Let cool fully. Mix in egg, then add 1 c flour mix and xanthan gum, then keep adding a few tablespoons at a time until the dough holds together. Dust a cutting board with flour (I used sweet rice) and knead the dough for a few minutes. Break off manageable hunks (about fist sized) and roll into snakes about 3/4 inch thick. If your dough won't roll well, try squeezing it through your hands to thin it out, then rolling to smooth the finger-squeezing marks. Once you have a decent shaped snake of dough, cut into pieces, depending on how thick your snake is. You want each piece to be a little smaller than a quarter, and oval/square. After cutting each piece, imprint it with the back of a fork, and place on a cookie sheet. If you're eating them all at once, set them aside until you have a big pot of water boiling, and cook in batches about 3-5 minutes each, until they float up to the top. Test if they're done by cutting one in half and either eating it or looking at it. You'll be able to tell if it's not cooked all the way. If you're not eating them all at once (this recipe makes probably 8-10 servings?) then stick the cookie sheet in the freezer for an hour or two, until the gnocchis are frozen, then put into ziplock bags. To cook frozen-drop into boiling water and cook a few minutes longer than you normally would. Serve with plenty of your favorite sauce, or butter and cheese. And maybe some garlic. Mmm.

tuna noodle casserole and twice baked (christmas) potatoes

I've never had tuna noodle casserole. It's not something my mom made, so I never had it. As I was thinking about what to make for dinner yesterday while at work, I decided on tuna. I was going to make bread and tunafish salad and have sandwiches, but decided against it. When I searched around on the internet for ideas about what to do with a can of tuna, tuna noodle casserole kept popping up. I read a few recipes, then decided to wing it. It was really good. It was just what I wanted - cheesey, warm, filling, tuna-ey. I made enough for Alex and I to each have a bowl, with a little leftover. When Aled went downstairs for seconds, he said "That's it!?" terribly disappointed. Oh well, it was easy enough I can make it again anytime, and it's one of those things that I always have the ingredients on hand for.
To go along with the tuna noodle casserole (not enough starch! ha), I made what I call "Christmas potatoes". Really, they're twice baked potatoes, but one time when I told a friend what I was making for dinner, he hadn't heard of them. So I described them to him, and he said "Sounds like Christmas!" and so the name stuck. These are something I've been making since a kid, they're so easy and delicious.

Tuna Noodle Casserole
This makes enough to serve 2, with one second helping. I didn't want leftovers in the fridge. You can double it for more people.

1/2 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 T butter
1 1/2 T sweet rice flour
1 c milk
salt and pepper to taste
about 1 c cheese (your choice, I used cheddar)
1/2 c breadcrumbs
1 can tuna
1 1/2 c rice pasta
Preheat oven to 350, and butter a casserole dish. Cook pasta, drain, and put in casserole. Add tuna. Saute onion, garlic and celery in 1 T butter until softened. Add to casserole. Make cheese sauce: Melt 2 T butter, whisk in rice flour, cook, whisking, 2 minutes. Whisk in milk, salt and pepper, cook until thickened. Remove from heat, stir in cheese until melted. Pour into casserole, mix everything together. Melt last T of butter, toast breadcrumbs in butter. Sprinkle over tuna cheese noddles, bake about 30 minutes, until browned and bubbling.

Christmas Potatoes
2 potatoes, scrubbed and pricked all over with a fork
2 T butter
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 c milk
1 c cheese (your choice, I usually use cheddar and parm, I used a really good aged Gouda this time and it was awesome), grated
a little hot sauce

Microwave the potatoes, on a paper towel, for about 10 minutes, turning halfway through, until fork-tender. Preheat the oven to 350. Cut potatoes in half the long way, and scoop out the insides carefully into a bowl, trying not to break up the skin. Place the 4 skin boats onto a cookie sheet. Mash the potatoes with the rest of the ingredients, then scoop the mix into the skins. Sprinkle with a little more cheese if desired, then bake about 20 minutes until beginning to brown.

Friday, summer.

I had to go cook dinner so I didn't finish that last post. Here are the rest of the recipes.

Scallion Pancakes

1/2 t xantham gum
1 c flour (I use brown rice flour mix)
1 1/4 c water
1/2 t salt
scallions, chopped
2-4 T veg oil

mix the first 4 ingredients together, add scallions, cook as you do regular pancakes in veg oil.

Gnocchi

2 lbs potatoes
1 c rice flour
3/4 c potato starch
1/4 c cornstarch
1 T butter
1 T Parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten
1/2 t xantham gum

Prick potatoes all over and bake at 400 degrees for 45 mins to 1 hour, turning halfway through.
Peel potatoes and grate them (or mash) into a large bowl. Add eggs, salt, and mix with a wooden spoon.
Add flour a little at a time until dough won't stick to your fingers. When flour has been incorporated, bring dough together with your hands.
Knead on a lightly floured surface.
Form the dough into a ball and then divide into 6 balls. Roll each ball into a rope 3/4" thick, then cut each rope into 1" pieces. Make ridges on each with a fork, drop into boiling water until they float, or freeze on a cookie sheet, transferring to a bag once frozen.