Tag Archives: pasta

Trattoria Mollie

4 Dec

Tonight we decided to get dinner and then put up our Chrismukkah decorations. We went to Trattoria Mollie’s so that we would have plenty of energy to put together our fake tree that has made it through two cross country moves. I had a salad with a lemon dressing and shaved parmigiano. It was nice and light. I then had the Medaglioni di Melanzane alla Piastra con Speck al Profumo di Pesto.

This consisted of  grilled eggplant with mozzarella, smoked ham and pesto sauce. I then had gluten-free pasta. You heard right…. ANOTHER restaurant that offers GF pasta! Are we lucky or what?

I had the Spaghetti con Pancetta e Ricotta salata. It was GF spaghetti, smoked Italian bacon and ricotta cheese in a light tomato sauce. It was quite yummy. They use the Trader Joe’s brand rice flour pasta. To finish off the meal, they made me a small portion of their Panna Cotta.

This naturally GF dessert had a wonderful chocolate drizzle and was surrounded by a strawberry sauce. I don’t know how we got anything done after eating the amount that we did. However, after rummaging through our moving boxes, we were able to locate our tree and box of ornaments. The stockings are still MIA, but who needs stockings when you have a festivities bush like ours?

Tags: , , , , ,

Piccolo Angolo

27 Nov

Tonight, we went into NYC for dinner. Instead of going to one of the usual GF places, we went to one of our favorite Italian restaurants, Piccolo Angolo. They are incredibly GF friendly in that the owner’s son’s girlfriend has celiac. As long as you alert them, they will take good care of you. I had my favorite dish, the Gamberoni Fra’Diavolo, or shrimp with spicy tomato sauce. Their spicy tomato sauce is so darn good. It has the perfect amount of heat. The dish comes with a heaping side of vegetables.

These were prepared with olive oil and a generous amount of fresh garlic which I appreciated. As we were talking to our waitress, she was explaining that they now have gluten-free pasta available. They happened to be out of it tonight, but she said to just call ahead so that they can make sure to have some available next time we come in. I am already drooling imagining pasta with this Fra’Diavolo sauce. It is really that good.

Tags: , , ,

Nordstrom Cafe

3 Nov

I had to pick something up at Nordstrom today, so I figured I might as well go have a salad in their cafe for lunch. When perusing the menu, I saw a note that they had GF pasta available there! This town is finally starting to catch on! I got the Pasta Primavera with the gluten-free penne. This included roasted zucchini, squash, peppers, carrots, onion, tomato, fresh basil and a herb butter sauce with some parmesan cheese on top. It was pretty light. The outside patio is the perfect place for lunch on a day when the sun is out.

 

Tags: , , , ,

Plow and Angel

2 Nov

This evening, we went to Plow and Angel at the San Ysidro Ranch. Plow and Angel is the more casual dining option at San Ysidro Ranch. They also have Stonehouse which is more upscale. Both eateries have outdoor patios that are the most romantic, magical setting you can ever imagine. Seriously. If you have a special occasion that is worth celebrating, sit outside and just be in awe.

On to the food…. the first thing you will notice on the Plow and Angel menu is that it says on the bottom, “We are happy to accommodate all dietary needs such as vegetarian and gluten free diets.” It is true. They are very knowledgeable about the GF diet and even have gluten-free pasta available to substitute in on any dish with pasta. Another thing worth mentioning? If you dine at Plow and Angel, you can also order any dish from the Stonehouse menu. I started with “SYR’s Famous Tortilla Soup”. It includes avocado, grilled chicken, cheddar cheese, and corn tortilla crisps. This soup was SO good. I already am thinking about going back just to get this soup again. Then, for my main, I got the Maine Lobster Bolognese with GF penne all Chitarra, tomatoes and basil.

Now this dish comes at a price ($69.00), but it was delicious. There was plenty of lobster meat and the bolognese style sauce complimented the dish perfectly. If you are on a budget, just ordering the soup and a salad would be satisfying and enjoyable as the setting outside is just that special.

Tags: , , , ,

Dinner in Montecito

22 Oct

Tonight we went to dinner with my parents who were in town for two days. We went to the family favorite, Tre Lune. I started with my go-to Insalata di Fagioli pictured above. It was great, as always with the perfect balance of white beans, cucumber, tomatoes, onions and parmesan. I had really worked up an appetite all day while at work so I decided to order three courses. The next thing I had was the Carpaccio con Rughetta.

Sliced incredibly thin, this went into my belly very quicky. The mustard dressing in the middle was nice and light and complimented the beef tenderloin really well. The main course I ordered was the special pasta which had prawns and a tomato sauce. I had the choice of penne or fusilli. The picture below was of my dad’s pasta. He had the same dish with the regular spaghetti.

The only thing I didn’t like about this was that I prefer not to remove the heads. We requested them to be removed but the restaurant was too busy to accommodate us. Therefore, my dad had the task of removing both of our prawns’ heads. Yuck. I topped mine with the hot oil that they serve with their pizzas. It gave it the perfect about of heat. This meal paired with a wine from Puglia, Italy was extremely satisfying after a long and busy day at work.

 

Tags: , , ,

Gooey Goodness

19 Oct

I don’t cook often, but if one of us is feeling sick or it is the first night of Chrismukkah, I make gooey goodness. My husband wasn’t feeling well today, so I stopped at the store on my way home from work to pick up the three ingredients: GF spaghetti, Amy’s Spicy Vegetarian Chili, and a mexican blend of shredded cheeses. How do you make it? Cook the pasta as directed, then top with the warmed chili and then smother with some shredded cheese. The best part about this meal (other than the fact that it is easy enough for me to make) is that it makes a really satisfying smushing noise when you mix it all together in your bowl. So there you have it… a gluten-free recipe from the girl that doesn’t cook.

Tags: , , ,

Olio e Limone

18 Oct

I was craving some carbs tonight so we went to Olio e Limone. The starter I ordered was on the specials menu (it has been on the specials menu every time I have eaten there), and I understand why. It is just so darn tasty. It consists of Burrata Cheese, Tomato, Eggplant, Red Peppers, Greens, Olive Oil and Balsamic. When I ordered, I had asked the waiter if they GF pasta available. He told me they have spaghetti and a noodle similar to penne on hand. Gluten-free pasta choices? Nice. I went with the Rustichelle d’Abruzzo all’Amatriciana which is pasta with pancetta, onions and a spicy tomato sauce.

It was so delicious. I wish I could eat those onions everyday for the rest of my life. I prefer my sauce a little spicier, so the waiter brought out the hot oil they use next door at their pizzeria. I started talking to the waiter about gluten-free pizza offered at the Olio Pizzeria next door. He said that they had been getting a lot of interest and that they were working on it. He thought it would be sooner than later. Just moments later when he returned with the check, he said, “Guess what? I was in the kitchen and saw a pizza that looked a little different. It turns out they have the gluten-free crust now!” I can’t tell you how excited I was to hear this news. I started grilling him about how they handle the crust, and he assured me that they use a thin baking sheet to keep it off the same oven as the regular pizza and they use a different cutter as well. So there you have it… it has finally happened as of this week! Olio Pizzeria now has pizza available for us GF food connoisseurs!

Tags: , , , ,

Dinner and a Movie

16 Oct

After a long day of volunteering at the Cancer Run and house hunting, we decided to keep it low key and do dinner and a movie. We went to Pascucci since our movie was at Paseo Nuevo and that seemed easy. They were out of the GF pasta, so I ended up getting the caesar salad sans croutons and the Toscano risotto. If I were to pick my top three caesar salads, I would put this one in that category. It was extra garlicky tonight which made it even better. The risotto was good as well, but I could barely finish half of it since it was pretty heavy.

When we were done, we headed to our movie, 50/50. I loved this movie. It made me cry (which isn’t really a hard thing to do), but it had some great funny moments as well. As a bonus, the soundtrack was fantastic. Definitely worth seeing while it is still in movie theaters…

Tags: , , , , , ,

Ca Dario

9 Oct

 

See that really dark picture? It is hard to make out, but that is a delicious bowl of GF pasta with bolognese sauce ready to be pounced on. We went to Ca Dario last night, which was clearly the right decision when I saw on the specials menu, “Gluten-free pasta with choice of any sauce.” It was the most hearty, rich bowl of pasta I have had in a long time, which was perfect after not having anything to eat all day. Even better, they gave me a side of parmesan that I dumped on the pasta to make it even more fantastic. When making the reservation, I had asked if they would have GF pasta available tonight and they confirmed, but I would check with them if you are planning on dining there. 

Tags: , , , ,

Palazzio

3 Oct

Tonight we decided to try Palazzio and their GF pasta. We shared the caesar salad without croutons. Then, I ordered the fusilli shrimp pompeii with the GF “noOodle“. Our waiter explained that it is 95% water and 5% yam flour. Yeah… that sounded weird to me too. It had something of a thin rice noodle consistency. I ordered a saucy dish since the waiter mentioned it was a bit strange tasting on its own. It wasn’t bad. I prefer rice pasta, but at zero calories, I am not complaining.

Tags: , , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →