Gluten-Free Fusilli with Tomato-Pecorino Sauce and Roasted Broccoli
This recipe includes my three obsessions of the moment: Tinkyada pasta, Pecorino Romano cheese, and Roasted Broccoli. Here’s the story behind how I’ve become addicted to all three:
After tasting practically every gluten-free option out there, I had all but given up on ever eating pasta again, until Karina mentioned this particular brand of brown rice pasta. It just so happened that the next day I was browsing the aisles at the Food Hole and I found it. I brought it home, threw it in a pot of boiling water, and ate it ’til I could eat no more. That night, my obsession began. Seriously, I can hardly tell the difference between Tinkyada and real semolina pasta. It’s a Celiac pasta-lovers’ dream come true. And, it comes in every shape and size anyone could ever want!
And, cheese, glorious cheese. I’m allergic to cow’s milk, but sheep and goat’s milk are still fair game, as it is for a lot of people with dairy allergies. However, since nice sheep and goat cheeses tend to be a bit pricey, I usually only indulge occasionally. Who needs extra dairy in their diet anyway, right? But, I found a tasty-looking recipe for a tomato gravy that called for Parmesan cheese, and I thought a nice substitution would be a deliciously sharp wedge of Pecorino Romano, an Italian sheep’s milk cheese. The sauce, with the Pecorino substitution, kinda knocked my socks off.
And, finally, the broccoli. I was talking with one of my clients the other day and she mentioned that before I came to cook for her, she used to prepare almost all of her veggies by roasting them. She said she even used to roast broccoli, which, of course, made my ears perk up. Roasting makes eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, squash, onions, garlic, (and on and on…) taste so much better, so why should broccoli be any different? Well, I tried it and let me tell ya, broccoli is incredible roasted. It gets all smoky-flavored, but keeps it’s crispness. You’ve never tasted all that broccoli has to offer until you’ve tasted it prepared this way. I’d be willing to bet that even those finicky kids’ taste buds would go for the roasted version. It’s amazing.
GLUTEN-FREE FUSILLI WITH TOMATO-PECORINO SAUCE AND ROASTED BROCCOLI
serves four to six
sauce adapted from a recipe by the Food Network Kitchens
Note: The reason that I use olive oil spray on the broccoli is because it actually helps cut down the amount of calories I am adding to the broccoli. However, feel free to use a few Tablespoons of regular Olive Oil to coat it instead.
3/4 pkg. Tinkyada Brown Rice Fusilli Pasta
For the Sauce:
1/2 yellow onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 Tbs. Olive oil
1 Tbs. Butter or Earth Balance
1/4 cup organic tomato sauce
1 cup organic chicken or vegetable stock
1 (15 oz.) can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes (I like Muir Glen)
4 oz. Pecorino Romano cheese, grated, 2 Tbs. reserved for garnishing
1 pkg. pre-washed baby spinach
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. sea salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 bunch organic broccoli, cut into large-ish florets
Olive oil spray
salt and pepper, to taste
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Begin boiling a large pot of salted water for the pasta.
2. For the Broccoli: Place the broccoli florets into a large bowl and spray with olive oil. Add some salt and pepper and toss together to evenly coat the broccoli. Pour the broccoli in a single layer onto a baking sheet. Roast the broccoli for about 10 minutes. Open the oven, and stir the broccoli around to allow it to roast evenly. Allow to cook another 5-10 minutes or until the heads are just a bit charred, but the stalks are still mostly firm and green. While the broccoli is roasting, begin working on the sauce.
3. For the Sauce: In a medium sized pot, heat the olive oil and butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic and oregano. Saute until the onions are translucent. Stir in the tomato sauce and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the stock and crushed tomatoes. Bring the sauce to a simmer and lower the heat. Simmer sauce for about 5 minutes, or until it starts to thicken slightly. Whisk in the cheese, vinegar and salt and pepper. When the cheese has melted and is thoroughly combined into the sauce, throw in the spinach. Stir it around and cover the pot with a lid to allow spinach to wilt down. You may need to add the spinach in batches until it is all combined. Once spinach is wilted into the sauce, keep sauce warm and set aside.
4. When you begin cooking the sauce, add your pasta to the water and prepare according to package instructions.
5. To plate: Place a small amount of pasta in each bowl. Top with Tomato-Pecorino Sauce and few roasted broccoli florets. Garnish with reserved cheese and serve.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Lots of great pasta WholeAndNatural.com.