Favorite Gluten Free Pastas

Whenever I ask my kids what they want for dinner, they respond in unison "Pasta!"  For a while, I always made separate gluten free pasta for my daughter and regular pasta for the rest of the family because nobody else liked the gluten free pasta.  However, over time we found a few gluten free pastas that everyone likes which has greatly simplified things for me.

Dave's Butternut Squash Sauce

My family's absolute favorite pasta is from a local business that specializes in handcrafted gourmet pasta, Your Family's Pasta - Gourmet Pastas.  If you happen to live in the Indianapolis area, they sell their pasta at the Noblesville, Fishers, and Westfield farmer's market.  You can also order from them online and have it shipped directly to you.  We love both the gluten free Veggie Curls and Pagoda.  I serve this with Prego traditional sauce,  Dave's Butternut Squash Sauce, or even just some Parmesan cheese and butter.  Believe it or not, my kids actually prefer the "squash sauce" and request it specifically.

Corn Elbow Style Pasta

My family also likes DeBoles Corn Elbow Style pasta.  I like to use this pasta for chilli mac.  I just make my chilli with kidney beans, tomato sauce, ground beef, and onions and serve it over the corn pasta sprinkled with cheddar cheese.  Sometimes I also make a mexican style goulash with it.  I brown a pound of ground beef with a small, chopped onion, and add taco seasoning, a can of black beans, and crushed tomatoes and serve this over the pasta with some cheese and sour cream.

 Nature's Earthly Choice Quinoa Pasta blend from Costco is a great penne pasta.  It is a corn, rice, and quinoa blend that cooks with a pleasing texture.

Even with these pastas, you have to follow the cooking instructions carefully; otherwise, they will be mushy.  I have found that it is very important to bring the water to a rapid boil before cooking gluten-free pasta.   A couple of times I have tried to add more water to the pan after I had already added the pasta, and I ended up with a gooey mess and had to throw away the pasta.  You also need to follow the cooking time on the package to make sure that you don't over cook the pasta.  Once the cooking water starts to thicken, the pasta is done.