I don’t know about you all, but dinnertime at our house can sometimes be a STRUGGLE! At the end of the work day, very often the last thing I feel like doing is whipping up a gourmet meal. 😉 Add to this the fact that Luke can’t eat gluten, and what are you left with? A very stumped Caitlin… because what meal is relatively inexpensive, quick and simple, gluten-free and actually yummy?!
Y’all, we found it. And I’m going to share the modified gluten-free version of the recipe with you today! This is truly our go-to meal and it gives us so many days of leftovers it’s not even funny. So, here we go… our favorite dinner recipe at the moment! Enjoy!!
THE INGREDIENTS:
- 2 eggs
- 1 pound of ground beef (I have also used 1/2 a pound of ground beef and 1/2 a pound of sausage, and that is also delicious!)
- 1 cup of Parmesan cheese (I just use the kind in the little jar, but fresh Parmesan tastes amazing too)
- 1 cup of gluten-free breadcrumbs
- 1½ tablespoons Italian seasoning (if I don’t have this on hand, I just use a mix of salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and basil)
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 package of gluten free penne pasta
- 1 28 ounce can of whole tomatoes
- 1 jar of tomato sauce
- A pinch of red pepper flake
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
In the original recipe, it calls for 1 package of tortellini instead of gluten-free pasta, but we substitute a package of gluten-free pasta and it tastes delicious!
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Grease a cast iron skillet or baking dish (I use my big cast iron skillet for ours!)
- Mix the ground beef, 1/2 a cup of the Parmesan cheese, the gluten-free bread crumbs, the eggs, the Italian seasoning, your garlic and some salt & pepper. Combine.
- Roll mixture into meatballs and place in the greased cast iron skillet. (Our meatballs are usually walnut-sized.)
- Cook for 18-20 minutes or until brown and caramelized.
- While the meatballs cook, cook the gluten-free pasta on the stove until done. Drain the pasta and let it stay warm until the meatballs are done.
- Remove the skillet from the oven and pour the cooked gluten-free pasta over the top of the skillet. Spread evenly over the meatballs.
- Pour the can of whole peeled tomatoes on top of the pasta and spread evenly. Pour the can of tomato sauce on top of these tomatoes and spread evenly.
- Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese on top of everything and sprinkle pepper and basil on top of that.
- Put the skillet back in the oven for 10 more minutes.
- Remove skillet from the oven and serve immediately!
The recipe says it serves four, but it serves both of us for dinner and gives us at least 3-4 servings for leftovers! It heats up wonderfully for lunch or another dinner. I usually grab a “salad in a bag” from Aldi and that’s dinner for the night! <3 Lastly, in total, this recipe takes me about 15 minutes to prep and about 30 minutes to cook in the oven! It’s Luke’s all time favorite, so I promise it is guy-approved, as well. 😉
If you try out our favorite dinner recipe of all time, please leave a comment and tell us how you liked it!! We also would love to try out your favorite simple and gluten-free dinner recipe, so feel free to leave alll the links below 🙂
Xoxo, and Happy Thursday, friends!!
