Easy Gluten Free Bolognese (Meat) Sauce Recipe

Spaghetti is a comfort food at our house. I really like a a hearty meat and tomato sauce. This is the type of sauce we generally had over spaghetti when I was growing up. Michael's mom makes a similar sauce, although she basically just serves a simple meat chili over spaghetti.

Mark Bittman's "How to cook everything" is one of my favorite cookbooks. The techniques are simple and encouraging for home cooks. Who cares how you cut your onion, just make sure it's diced somewhat evenly and it will turn out fine... especially in this delicious sauce.

I love sauces and soups that really have to simmer. The prep work takes about 30 minutes, but then you leave the sauce alone. The flavors will simmer and dance in the pot while you get the chance to catch up on that book you've ignored for a week...or maybe the laundry. (Personally I'd pick the book! :-P)

Prepare all of your ingredients before you start to cook. It makes life easier. Trust me.
 Chop your veggies and the bacon. Open the crushed tomatoes.... then enjoy the process of cooking!

Some recipes take time and this is one of them. A slow cooker would be perfect for this if you need to leave the house... but there's something innately comforting and homey about having a pot of stick-to-your-ribs spaghetti sauce simmering on the back burner.

While your sauce is cooking you'll have time to mix up a few loaves of gluten free french bread. Let them rise and on the counter and by the time your loaves have baked and cooled... it will be time for dinner!

Ragu Meat Sauce, Bolognese-Style
adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman
free of gluten, soy, and options for dairy-free
printer-friendly recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, minced
1 carrot, peeled and minced
1 celery stalk, minced
1/4 cup minced bacon
1/2 pound lean ground pork (or use all beef)
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1 cup dry white wine (or reserved juice from the canned tomatoes)
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes, drained (reserve juice, if needed instead of wine)
1 cup beef or chicken stock, preferably homemade
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup cream, half-and-half, or milk (We just left this out altogether and added an additional cup of tomato juice to the sauce)
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:
Dust off your favorite cast iron dutch oven. Add the olive oil to the pan and allow it to get hot enough to sizzle a drop of water. Add the minced bacon, onions, carrots, celery (and garlic if you live in my family). Saute for about 5-8 minutes or until the bacon has rendered fat in the pan and the onions are beginning to brown. Add the ground beef and ground pork (we used all beef) and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until the meat has browned through and there is no pink showing. While the beef is cooking, using a wooden spatula break up the meat so it is in very small pieces. Once the meat has browned add the crushed tomatoes and white wine or reserved tomato juice and the beef stock. Turn the heat to very low and allow the sauce to simmer for at least 2 hours and if you have time... let that sauce simmer for 4-5 hours. The sauce will have a much deeper flavor if it's allowed to simmer for 3-4 hours. If you're using cream, milk, or half and half, swirl it into the sauce right before serving and allow it to heat through. Serve it over gluten free pasta, rice, raw zucchini noodles, lightly sauteed spinach, or even on top of french bread for "manwiches" etc... just eat this stuff up and enjoy every bit of it! :-) Serve with shaved parmesan on top if you’d like, or if you’re dairy free sprinkle on some blanched almond flour! You’ll be amazed as how much it tastes like finely grated parmesan!

Enjoy!

Gluten Free Pasta Recipe for Chicken Noodle Soup

Homemade gluten free chicken noodle soup... or also known as chicken pastry in Eastern NC

Before going gluten free I had never attempted to make homemade pasta. Why bother if you could pick up a box of spaghetti noodles at the store on the way home? Most days I still feel that way. Thank GOODNESS for Tinkyada. 

When I moved to Eastern NC for college one of the first local foods I learned about was chicken pastry. I had never heard of this dish. My mother made chicken & dumplings when I was growing up. The dumplings were basically biscuits that were added to a mixture of chicken broth and cream of chicken soup and they were allowed to "bake" on top of the soup in a covered pot. They were light & fluffy and soaked in that delicious chicken broth. It still brings back good memories. 

Eastern NC's answer to my mom's chicken & dumplings is chicken pastry. Basically thick noodles cooked in chicken broth. These noodles are usually either homemade or bought in the freezer section of North Carolina grocery stores. A popular brand to buy is Anne's, which are marketed as flat dumplings. But don't call them dumplings, my mother-in-law wouldn't have the slightest idea what you were talking about. 

Turns out making homemade noodles, pasta, or pastry as we say in Eastern NC... it's not hard. It took me less than 20 minutes to mix the dough and roll out the noodles for our soup last night. 20 minutes. It would take that long to cook a box of pasta (which on most nights, trust me... I'd rather do!) 

Making homemade gluten free pasta. I rolled the dough out by hand and cut the strips with a pizza cutter. 

This recipe is a variation of Thomas's gluten free pasta for pierogies. It's a simple dough and the recipe just works well. I've made this probably 10-12 times now and each time... it makes great noodles. If you have a pasta machine the dough would work beautifully with it. 

I make the dough, divide it into three balls and quickly roll it out into thick strips of pasta. You could make ravioli, spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine... basically any kind of gluten free pasta you want. It's versatile, easy and quick. 

Personally I like thick chicken pastry best. Basic chicken soup with thick homemade noodles. I added a can of mixed vegetables and cooked, diced chicken to make a complete meal. Meals like this are pure comfort food to me. Don't be intimidated by fresh noodles. You can make homemade gluten free chicken noodle soup in 35 minutes. Why aren't you headed to the kitchen? 

Gluten Free Chicken Noodle Soup/ AKA Chicken Pastry with mixed vegetables.
The noodles take less than 5 minutes to cook!

Easy Gluten Free Pasta Recipe

free of gluten, dairy, and soy

adapted by Carrie @ www.gingerlemongirl.com from this recipe by Thomas of GF/CF Experience

print-friendly recipe

Dry Ingredients:

1/3 cup brown rice flour

1/3 cup sorghum flour

1/3 cup arrowroot starch 

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/4 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 tbsp. non-dairy margarine

2 tablespoons almond milk

Directions:

In a medium sized bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the eggs, margarine, and milk. Stir the wet & dry ingredients together until you get a ball of thick, slightly sticky dough. Divide the dough into three balls. Sprinkle a flat, dry surface with brown rice flour so the pasta doesn't stick when you roll it out. I like to use a silpat mat or a flexible cutting board. Place your ball of dough in the center of your flat surface. Sprinkle the top of the dough with additional brown rice flour. Place a sheet of plastic wrap on top of the ball of dough. Roll out the dough into a wide, flat rectangle (as seen in the 2nd picture above). Cut strips of pasta (using a pizza roller) as thick or as thin as you want them. Place them on a plate and continue rolling out your balls of dough. Make sure to use more brown rice flour if you need too to prevent the noodles from sticking. 

To COOK gluten free pasta: 

Drop the pasta into hot boiling water or broth and cook for 5-8 minutes until pasta is the texture you desire. Drain & rinse the pasta to use with sauces. Leave the pasta in the broth for soup. 

For Quick Gluten Free Chicken Noodle Soup:

Heat 32 oz. of chicken stock/broth in a soup pot. Add 1-2 cups of cooked chicken, a drained can of mixed vegetables. Heat the soup until boiling and then add 1 batch of gluten free pasta. Cook for 5-8 additional minutes until pasta is cooked to your liking. Serve immediately. 

Carrie's Notes: 

• Be GENTLE with the pizza cutter if you're using a silpat mat, you don't want to cut your mat. I usually place an additional piece of plastic wrap on top of the silpat mat to prevent cutting it. 

• You know I love whole grain flours, but I think in this recipe you could use your favorite gluten free flour mix in place of the 1 cup of gluten free flour called for, just make sure it's not a baking mix with leavening... unless you want really puffy pasta!

• For the margarine -- I used earth balance soy free margarine. I don't see why it wouldn't work with simply using olive oil or coconut oil though. Try it and see if you're opposed to margarine.

I added this to Gluten Free Homemaker's Wednesday Roundup! Make sure to stop by and check out all of the other wonderful gluten free recipes listed!