Hey everybody! Things have been crazy busy lately. My best friend got married this past weekend, so I finally have time to sit down and post all the yummy food I have been making lately. My friends and I did another cook-a-thon 2 weeks ago, so today I have one of the dishes I made for our food co-op. For those of you who may not know what I am talking about- basically we all split the cost of groceries and then we divide up all the food. We are able to buy in bulk, and save a ton of money. It ends up costing less than $1.50 a serving, and no one has to eat the same thing every day for a week.
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| Cheesy, sausagy goodness |
In addition to being gluten free, one of my friends also has to watch her tomato intake. So, when I wanted to make an Italian dish, I needed to come up with something that didn't have a tomato sauce. Last time we did and Alfredo sauce, so I really wanted a red sauce this time. Enter Roasted Red Peppers. I'd like to say that I roasted fresh peppers, but that would be a lie. That was my original plan, but I decided to take the easy way out. By easy, I mean eliminating an unnecessary step in an already busy day of cooking. I guess if the idea of eating roasted red peppers from a jar or salad bar makes you cringe, you could roast them yourself- but I didn't. This recipe makes a double batch. I would make it in two baking dishes, freeze one, and eat the other one now!
You Will Need:
2 jars Roasted Red Peppers in brine, drained (approx. 4 green containters)
2 packages Italian sausage (I used Turkey- 1 hot, 1 sweet) (approx. 8 red containers)
1 16 ounce container of part skim ricotta. (approx. 4 red containers)
2 eggs (1 red)
1 12 ounce package Tinkyada gluten free pasta (1 package dry = 12 yellow cooked)
8 ounces shredded Italian cheese (3 blue)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese (1.5 blue)
1 TBSP minced garlic
2 TBSP 21 Day Fix Mediterranean Blend (or Italian Seasoning)
Garlic powder, about 1 tsp- optional
Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, remove the sausage casings and brown the sausage in a large skillet until crumbly. In a large bowl, combine the Ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, Mediterranean seasoning, salt and pepper. You will not need a lot of salt because of the parmesan cheese, but you should definitely taste the cheese mixture and add additional seasonings as necessary. Add the eggs to the cheese mixture and stir to incorporate. Place the drained red peppers in a blender with the minced garlic. Blend until smooth, adding water to reach the desired constancy (I didn't have to add any, but my blender is powered by Thor :). You shouldn't need any extra salt in the sauce, but taste it just in case.
To Assemble: (Divide the ingredients between 2 baking dishes or use 1 giant pan)
Place a small amount of the roasted red pepper sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Spread 1/3 of the pasta in the pan. Top with 1/3 of the sausage, 1/3 of the cheese mixture and a little more sauce. Repeat the layers 2 more times, ending with the sauce and top with the mozzarella cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until brown and bubbly. Serves 12
21 Day Fix Conversion: 1 yellow, approx. 1 red, 1/3 green*, 1/3 blue,
*To up the vegetable percentage, without any picky eaters knowing, you can add 1 pound steamed baby carrots to the red pepper sauce. You may have to add a small amount of low sodium vegetable broth or water to the blender, but I promise no one will know you added carrots. 1 pound of carrots will add 1/3 of a serving of vegetables, taking the total green count to 2/3rds.
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