PASTA WITH RICOTTA-BUTTER SAUCE

Pasta con ricotta

The recipe

Serves four with salad

• 1 package brown rice pasta (do not use corn or quinoa pasta for this recipe)
• 3/4 pound fresh ricotta*, full-fat preferred - but do what you have to do
• 1/4 pounds fresh sheeps' milk cheese
• 1 stick of fresh, salted butter or substitute Earth Balance
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• sea salt and cracked, black pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced fine

Boil the pasta in salted water until done al denté.  While the pasta is boiling, place the butter in a bowl large enough to accommodate all ingredients.  Take one cup of the boiling water and pour it over the butter, melting it and mixing it with the water.  Add the ricotta and sheeps' milk cheese and continue to mix well.  

Set aside another cup of water when the pasta is done.

Drain the pasta well and add it to the bowl with the butter and ricotta. It should make a creamy, but not runny, sauce.  If it seems dry, add a bit of the reserved water . Add the nutmeg. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Sprinkle with parsley.  Serve.  It's that easy.  And it's very good.

* Read the ingredients on the ricotta package to be sure there are no wheat-derived products used for thickening included.


Actual product ingredients may contain more and different information than that which is shown or suggested on this blog. Please remember that you should not rely solely on the information presented here or anywhere online and that you always read labels, warnings, and directions before purchasing and consuming a product. 

KAIA FOODS, KALE CHIPS ... GF snacks food

You may have noticed these days that the availability and variety of packaged, dried raw foods at your Whole Foods or health food store continues to increase. Among the newer (to me) items is kaia foods kale chips, which come in a variety of flavors including barbecue. I haven't tasted the barbecue, but I have had the sea salt & vinegar and the "cheesy." I like them both.  The smell of the vinegar is a delightful pungent zap as you open the bag. The "cheesy" is from nutritional yeast. 


The kale chips are gluten-free and 85% raw. Total carbs are nine grams. Total protein is eight grams. The only real downside I see to an otherwise fabulous snack idea is the 200 calories (130 from fat) for just 1 oz. serving, which is the result of using sprouted sesame seeds and sprouted sunflower seeds. Seeds always have a high fat content ... and these would be weighted on the side of omega six and nine, not three.  100 grams of sunflower oil, for example, provides sixty-three grams of omega six. Three is the one we tend not to get enough of in the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) Six is the one we get too much of.  
I'm going to guess that anyone who likes greens - which I do - is going to like these a lot. Will they replace standard chips in everyone's diet? That would be a very individual thing. In spite of the fat, I think in moderation they're a good gluten-free-on-the-run snack, easy, convenient, mostly healthy, and tasty to tote around in briefcase or bag.


At the time of this writing, Kaia foods' site doesn't say that theirs is a dedicated facility*, however they don't appear to produce anything with wheat. They have a buckwheat product line, but buckwheat (an herbaceous plant) is not a wheat and is considered a "pseudo-grain." The company does manufacturer products with tree nuts (walnuts). 


* Dedicated facility: one that produces only wheat-and-gluten free products, thus eliminating the potential for cross contamination.


Actual product ingredients may contain more and different information than that which is shown or suggested on this blog. Please remember that you should not rely solely on the information presented here or anywhere online and that you always read labels, warnings, and directions before purchasing and consuming a product.