Cybele Pascal

After a whirlwind weekend in Chicago, I’m back from a super fun time at the Gluten and Allergen-Free Expo, where I met up with many of my favorite colleagues in the world of Allergen-Free and Gluten-Free Cooking. It was fabulous to hang out with the talented Elana Amsterdam of Elana’s Pantry, (come back next week to enter for the giveaway of her brand-spanking-new book Gluten-Free Cupcakes).  Also thrilled to meet the lovely Amy Green of Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free, the dynamo, Silvana Nardone, author of Cooking for Isaiah, Alisa Fleming of Go Dairy Free, Kelly Brozyna of The Spunky Coconut, Shirley Braden of GFE, Carol Kicinski of Simply Gluten-Free, the Living Without crew of sweet Alicia Woodward, Beth Hilson, and the sublime Sueson Vess (also of Special Eats), the legendary Carol Fenster of The Savory Palate, Kim Maes of Cook It Allergy Free (the app!), the Welcoming Kitchen ladies, Megan Hart and Kim Lutz, and many many more (if I keep going this will read like a verbose Academy Awards acceptance speech, let the cue music begin!)

This weekend I taught a class in which I demoed my Allergy-Free Red Velvet Cake and my Allergy-Friendly Old-Fashioned Mac n’ Cheese. Many of you who couldn’t be there this past weekend have asked me to post the recipe. I’ve done one better and am posting both the recipe, and the video, so you can follow along if you like. Enjoy!

Allergy-Free Old-Fashioned Mac n’ Cheese

Makes 8 Servings

• 12 oz Brown Rice Penne pasta (Tinkyada is my favorite)
• 2 cups rice milk
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons grated yellow onion
• ¼ cup superfine brown rice flour
• bay leaf
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Pinch of white pepper
• Pinch of nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
• freshly ground pepper
• 3 cups shredded Daiya Chedder cheese
• 1/3 cup gluten-free bread crumbs tossed with 1 Tablespoon olive oil

♥♥♥

1.  Preheat oven to 350°F.

2.  Boil large pot of water, and cook pasta 10 minutes until al dente, drain, rinse with cool water, drain. Set aside.

3.  Meanwhile, warm rice milk in a sauce pan until hot, but not boiling. Set aside.

4.  Heat olive oil over medium heat in heavy sauce pan.  Add onion, and cook, stirring often, 2 minutes.  Add brown rice flour, and cook stirring, 2 minutes more until golden.  Don’t burn it.

5.  Add the rice milk, a little at a time, whisking continuously to avoid lumps. Whisk vigorously, till smooth.  Add bay leaf, big pinch of cayenne, white pepper, and nutmeg. Add salt and Dijon, stir, and bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat to low and cook stirring until thick and creamy 4-5 minutes. Whisk to smooth again if necessary.  Add a few grinding of fresh pepper. Add 1 cup of cheese, and stir till melted. Remove from heat.

6.  Combine sauce with pasta.

7.  Spread ½ cup of the cheese in the bottom of a 11×7-inch rectangular baking dish.  Top with 1/3 pasta (about 1 ¾ cups).  Top with ½ cup cheese. Repeat until you have three layers of pasta, ending with cheese.

8.  Sprinkle bread crumbs over top.  Bake 1 hour. If top hasn’t browned up enough, put under broiler 2-3 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Allergy-Free Old-Fashioned Mac n’ Cheese
© 2010 by Cybele Pascal

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