Ringing in the New Year with Gluten-Free Ronzoni

Just in time for the holidays, I was sent a gift basket from Ronzoni to announce their new gluten-free pasta. It was news to me that Ronzoni launched a gluten-free pasta so I was excited by their gift. The Ronzoni Gluten Free Goodness Pasta Kit included Ronzoni Gluten Free Pasta, an awesome bright yellow colander, and pasta serving spoons. This was was a welcome surprise and a great addition to my kitchen.

I wanted to put together a special meal for New Year's Eve and thought I would use the Ronzoni Gluten-Free Rotini as part of the main course for my meal. I was in the middle of reading Apron Anxiety by blogger and journalist Alyssa Shelasky and two of her recipes stood out to me as both a challenge and a delicious dish.

I spent ALL of New Year's Eve day shopping around Astoria. Luckily there are some great butchers and cheese sellers in my neighborhood. Unluckily, every single person in Astoria was also out that day shopping for a NYE meal. After about 5 hours of shopping (no joke), I had everything I needed for my meal.

My first dish was from page 207 of Apron Anxiety: "Lamb Meatballs Garnished with Pomegranate Seeds and Resolutions." I never cooked lamb and only tried lamb chops once in my life, so this was my stretch dish. Alyssa said that these meatballs made her resolution to become an amazing cook come true so I thought I should go for it and try this dish. I followed this recipe pretty much by the book except swapping out crushed crackers for gluten-free breadcrumbs. In one word, this dish was DELICIOUS! It also felt very decadent to be eating lamb and pomegranate. I am not a fancy cook and this dish made me feel fancy!

Steamy! 

Happy 2014! 

My second dish was also inspired by Alyssa and her take on Nigella Lawson's Fusilli with Toasted Pine Nuts and Feta. Here is where I was putting the Ronzoni Gluten-Free to good use. Instead of gluten-filled fusilli, I used Ronzoni's gluten-free rotini (as seen above). The pasta had that yellow color that us Celiacs know so well from the years of eating corn pasta, but the difference with this pasta is that it is a blend of white and brown rice, corn, and quinoa. Once the pasta cooked, it lost that heavy yellow hue and looked more like regular pasta. I was very careful to follow the directions on the box of Ronzoni Gluten-Free rotini because gluten-free pasta can be very temperamental at times. When the pasta was the perfect al dente, I took it out of the water and proceeded with the recipe. This pasta had a nice mild flavor with no overpowering corn taste. It was balanced and I think a good choice to use for this recipe. The curly-cues of the rotini held the spinach and feta well and paired nicely with the lamb meatballs.

My boyfriend and I literally ate until we couldn't eat another bite. He is a gluten-eater and said the pasta was really tasty (big compliment from an non-GF person). The meal was ambitious but totally worth it for our New Year's Eve dinner. I had to roll myself to the bar to ring in the new year, I ate so much! We had lots of leftovers and the pasta held up really well with a reheat in the microwave the next day.

The Ronzoni Gluten-Free website not only has a pasta locator, but lots of recipes, and a coupon for $1 off any box of the gluten-free product. I highly recommend you giving this pasta a try, especially if you are tired of those "corny" gluten-free pastas. The pasta is 100% gluten-free, contains 19 grams of whole grains per serving, and is made in a dedicated gluten-free facility.

Click here to learn more and to download your Ronzoni Gluten-Free coupon today.



Sample product, kitchen gifts, and compensation were provided by the company but opinions expressed here are my own.