I Must Be Part Italian

When I first gave up foods containing gluten (1,109 days, 7 hours, 14 minutes ago... but who's counting), I was most anguished to be giving up Italian food.  I bet I ate pizza or pasta at least 2x a week for my whole life!  But that was all over.  Now I tried the GF offerings in the grocery store with very mediocre success.  Most restaurants don't offer any GF pasta dishes, and if they do, they are rarely decent.

The trick to making a decent GF pasta dish is great seasoning, and of course, cooking the pasta correctly.  Tonight my wonderful wife made one of my favorite dishes... Chicken Parmesan.

To create the crunchy coating on the boneless chicken breast cutlets, you need to dip the chicken in potato starch (corn starch could be substituted too), then in an egg wash.  Then coat it with a mix of gluten-free bread crumbs and grated parmesan cheese.  The chicken is then sautéed in olive oil until fully cooked.  While keeping the chicken warm in the oven, sprinkle it with an Italian cheese blend.

The pasta my wife uses is De Boles Rice Plus Golden Flax Angel Hair gluten-free pasta.  Cook it according to directions on the box.  The BIGGEST reason most people hate GF pasta is that it is easy to over cook it!  The taste is not that different from gluten-lovers' pasta, so if your sauce is properly spiced, the pasta becomes simply a conduit to get that saucy goodness in you.  :)

Any gluten-free pasta sauce can be used, so go with your favorite but read the label to be certain it doesn't contain any wheat.  We use Prego Traditional, which is not labeled GF, but appears safe for me.  Find a good sauce that has lots of flavor (or add some spices of your own), and stock up.  Pasta can once again become your friend if you find the right sauce and experiment with different meats to compliment it (sausage, chicken, etc.).