Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Pizza Casserole

Ashley has been asking for Daddy at therapeutic riding every week for the last month. So yesterday I brought him with us, plus Ginger and Zoe. We told her that everyone was coming at dinner the night before. She lit up and listed all of the things she was going to show them: “Walk on!” “I ride the horse!” “Put him away!” and so forth, eyes glistening. It was adorable. Then yesterday morning she completely beamed as we all watched her riding class attentively. Ginger rode on the new swing, which is next to the new raised garden, perfectly designed to be wheel chair height. So exciting to see all the progress there 🙂

In other news, Zoe recently showed me a gluten-free recipe that she had pinned, called something like, “mac-n-cheese muffins.” It was a cross between mac-n-cheese and lasagna, baked in a muffin pan. Toooootally appealing to kids 🙂 She asked me if I would make them for her with Cappello’s grain-free noodles, so I did. And they were really good, but I lost the recipe. Don’t worry, this is the new and improved version: 2.0 if you will 😉

I snapped (spunkycoconut1) about making this, and joked that I was temped to pat myself on the back that I had “gotten it on the first try,” but that’s not really true. I simply used my Cashew “Cheese” Base from Easy Paleo Meals. The Cashew “Cheese” Base is used for all kinds of recipes in the book, and no one who eats dairy ever even knows the difference! It’s creamy and delicious, and totally satisfies the need for cheese in baking. You can see my book reviews using this cheese base HERE.

I made this pizza casserole in no time. The “crust” is pepperoni. Ha! It’s totally optional, but I think it’s fun.

Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Pizza Casserole

“Cheese” Base:
1 cup broth
3/4 cup raw cashews
1/4 teaspoon Herbamare (copycat recipe in Easy Paleo Meals)
1 egg

10 oz pepperoni
3 cups tomato sauce
2 eggs
2 packages Cappello’s fettuccine*
1 large or 2 small yellow bell peppers, cut into strips

*I assume 18 oz of another fresh or cooked pasta would work, but I can’t be sure since I have not tested it myself

1. Set the oven to 350F. Line the bottom and sides of 2 deep-dish pie dishes with pepperoni. (this step is optional. if you omit the pepperoni then lightly grease the pie dishes.) (I think one 9 x 13 inch baking dish would also work instead of the 2 pie dishes.)
2. Puree the “Cheese” Base ingredients in the blender. Set aside.
3. Combine the tomato sauce and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Add the fettuccine and stir gently to combine.
4. Transfer the coated fettuccine to the prepared dishes. Divide the “Cheese” Base evenly between the top of each. Use a fork to stir the base in ever so slightly and lift some of the noodles up with the fork.
5. Arrange the bell pepper strips in a starburst pattern on top of each dish. Bake for 25 minutes or until the edges are nicely browned and the middle is mostly set.
6. Let them cool for 15 minutes, then slice and serve with a salad.

Serves 8.

♥, Kelly