Baked pasta

Cells are shivering and bouncing and rubbing up against each other.

I remember baked pasta dishes very fondly. Especially lasagna and baked ziti, my mom's go to Italian fare (in addition to spaghetti) when I was growing up.

When GFCF Kid was diagnosed with his food allergies/intolerances, all thoughts of baked pasta flew out the window. And, for the most part, I've never looked back.

I do occasionally order lasagna when eating out, and enjoy it thoroughly. But, when I'm GFCF, I've gone without. Mainly because GFCF Kid has no interest in, or taste for, things "cheesy". The other reason is that there has not been a tasty CF cheese on the market that melted like the real thing.

But, now there is: Daiya cheese. I had a bag of rotini that's been residing in the pantry for a few months so I picked up some ground turkey, a jar of Newman's marinara sauce, and a bag of Daiya cheese. I had peas in the freezer so added those for color and "vegetableness".

While I cooked the rotini in salted water, I sauteed and seasoned the ground turkey in a bit of oil. When the turkey was cooked, I added the tomato sauce to the turkey. I defrosted the peas in a colander.

Once the pasta was done, I drained it and put it into a baking dish. I added the meat sauce and peas and cheese. I covered the dish with foil and baked it at 350º for about 25 minutes. I uncovered it and baked it for 5 more minutes.

(I added a dollop of homemade basil-pine nut pesto to my bowl...yum!)

Simple, old school, not totally from scratch, baked rotini. GFCF Kid wouldn't touch it, The Omnivore couldn't tolerate the rotini shape, I relived my past and loved it :-)

(Good thing Red Sox Daddy is coming home tomorrow, he'll help me finish the pan. Next time I'm making it meatless!)