Last night I was trying to come up with something to make for dinner, hoping to use up some of the leftovers we had in our fridge because we are going out of town today for Easter. This is never an easy feat in a gluten-free household as I usually have to plan my week of meals out in advance since much is done from scratch. So, when I need to come up with something on the spot, it is usually something like taquitos and cheese dip or "breakfast for dinner." But last night my daughter requested her "favorite pasta" (spaghetti) and so I decided to try to work with that. I had some rotel cheese dip that I wanted to use as well as some fresh spinach leaves that would probably not be edible by the time we returned. So, off I went throwing things together, hoping for the best but not really expecting it. Well, this is what I came up with and I have to admit, it's pretty darn good.
I'll call it Cheesy Penne Pasta:
12 oz. brown rice penne pasta (tinkyada is my favorite)
26 oz jar of GF spaghetti sauce (we use the six-cheese ragu)
1 lb. ground beef or turkey
about 1 cup of rotel/velveeta dip
1 c. mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. parmesan cheese (i like the real stuff)
large handful of fresh spinach leaves
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook pasta according to directions, less a couple of minutes to prevent overcooking in the oven.
While pasta is cooking, brown meat and then add spaghetti sauce. Mix pasta in with meat sauce.
Layer in a medium casserole dish:
Half of pasta
rotel/velveeta dip
half of mozzarella cheese
half of parmesan cheese
spinach leaves
remaining pasta
remaining mozzarella cheese
remaining parmesan cheese
Bake for 20-30 minutes until bubbly.
I served it with a salad and Chebe Foccaccia bread. We tear off big chunks of the bread and dip it in the pasta...yummy!!!
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