Comfort Food :)

So this week I was really craving some of my favorite comfort food: pizza and mac & cheese. I already had a gluten-free pizza in the freezer for a movie night on Thursday, so it took all my self control not to eat that on Monday night when I just need something comforting. Instead I decided to try making my own gluten-free macaroni and cheese! I also wanted it to be mostly dairy-free. I am okay with mozzarella cheese, but I wanted to use coconut milk instead of cow’s milk.

I actually surprised myself with how good it turned out! It was amazing. Really. So…since I improvised and made it up as I went, I will explain the process…

Firstly, I used rice pasta. For some reason, I have an aversion all rice pasta besides the spirals. I even pay an extra 30 cents just to get the spirals because the straight noodles and elbow noodles look so unappealing. Anyways…the spiral rice pasta is really good. It has a great texture, and I honestly don’t even notice any difference between wheat pasta and rice. I think that if you reheated a dish with rice pasta, it might not be so good, but  freshly cooked, it is excellent!

So as my rice pasta was boiling, I melted a little butter in a saucepan. I then added 1/4 – 1/3 cup coconut milk. I wasn’t measuring it, but that’s my guess. I whisked the butter and milk together and let it heat up.

I didn’t time it too well, so the milk mixture was ready long before the pasta. I just took it off the burner and stirred it every couple minutes until the pasta was ready.

Oh, and because I wanted a little bit more substance, I added some frozen peas to the pot of pasta and prepared a can of salmon to add at the end.

So after the pasta was done, I put the milk/butter back on the stove and warmed it up (which only took like a minute because it had been hot already). I then added about 1/2 – 3/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese. I was afraid it would get all “goopy” at this point, but I just whisked vigorously as the cheese melted, to keep it from congealing into a big lump. I then poured it over the pasta,  and added the salmon.

Ahhh…so good! It was very rich and creamy, with lots of delicious cheese! I didn’t notice any coconut flavor, so I think it just melded with the other flavors.

Anyways…this is definitely going on my list of favorites! : )