When I created this recipe, I had no idea how relevant it would be to the time when it would actually go live on my blog. You guys, it is a crazy world out there! How are you doing?!?!
We are doing well at our house. I was a bit too busy the past few months with lots of (super fun) music stuff, but it meant that I was constantly scrambling to keep things “on schedule.” And now I’m trying to come up with things to put on the schedule. It’s been a nice change.
We are getting creative with workouts these days as well since our gym closed. I’m experimenting with a few things and a new program, which is fun.
When you have the constraints of time or location or resources, you get very creative. I love this.
Now that grocery stores are low on stock and many of us have stocked our pantries or freezers with some extra food, what do we even do with it? How do we make it taste good? I came up with this recipe for a mid-week meal when I was low on grocery items and had to shop my pantry and freezer.
Note: at the time, I had a lot of venison. A lot. So, I actually made this meal with ground venison (which my family is crazy about), but you can easy sub in ground anything–beef would be most basic, chicken would be yummy, and lamb would be out of this world.
Use what you have!
A few notes about the recipe…
- If you don’t have fresh spinach, you could easily sub in frozen greens. I’d probably use just one cup instead of two. You could even use 1-2 cups of another frozen vegetable. Broccoli would probably work well, although, admittedly, I have not tried it.
- If you can’t find garlic in the stores, you could sub in 2 teaspoons of garlic powder. It is not quite as good, but it will work!
- My hands-down absolute favorite gluten free pasta is Bionaturae. It’s a little hard to come by. I generally order it through Vitacost. I have fooled many a gluten-ful person with this pasta. I don’t love that it contains soy, but we just don’t have pasta all that often. Even gluten free pasta is a bit of a treat in our house. A less-tasty but probably better for you pasta would be a strictly brown rice pasta. But, the gluten-ful person in my house does not prefer it.
Okay, here we go! On to the recipe!
- 12 oz. gluten free penne or fusilli pasta
- 1 lb. ground meat (beef, venison, or chicken work great)
- 1 medium onion
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 2 T. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 T. italian seasoning
- 2 t. pink salt
- 1 t. crushed red pepper
- 2 heaping cups of spinach
- 4 oz. parmesan or asiago cheese
- ½ lemon
- Bring a large pot to boil over medium-high heat. Add ¼ c. of kosher salt. Add pasta and cook to al dente per package instructions.
- Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat.
- Dice the onion and the garlic cloves.
- Add the olive oil to the pan and heat until it is shiny and easily coats the bottom of the pan.
- Add the onions and garlic, stirring frequently, 3-5 minutes.
- Add ground meat and season with the salt, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper. Stir frequently, until browned and cooked through.
- Coarsely chop the spinach, and add to the pan.
- Grate the cheese.
- When the pasta is cooked, drain into a colander and add to the pan with the ground meat.
- Add the cheese, and give everything a good stir to combine.
- Squeeze the lemon half into the pasta and stir again. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
- Serve into individual bowls, topping with additional cheese if desired.
What’s your best tip for surviving quarantine? Send ’em my way. I’d love to know!
Drop me a line!