Recipe: Gluten-Free Spaghetti with Braised Arugula and Shaved Manchego

Who knew gluten-free pasta could look this yummy! I made some spaghetti with braised arugula topped with shaved manchego inspired from this Mario Batali Meatless Monday Gallery of 10 Vegetarian dishes over at BlissTree.

The spaghetti recipe in the BlissTree gallery used regular semolina-based pasta, kale and Parmesan cheese. I modified the recipe because I had arugula in the fridge, Trader Joe's gluten-free brown rice spaghetti in the pantry, and manchego is a cheese I can eat since it's from sheep not cow.

The Trader Joe's gluten-free brown rice spaghetti is one of the best gluten-free pastas I've had, and I've tried many brands. I like the TJ's gluten-free pastas because they taste almost nearly like the semolina versions. The only thing is that if you overcook the gluten-free pasta it quickly becomes a lump of mush...not pretty nor tasty.

Ingredients (makes 2 servings):

• 2 cups Trader Joe's brown rice spaghetti (cooked)
• 3 cups fresh arugula  (I used organic)
• 2 tbsps olive oil + 1 tbsps Earth Balance soy-free buttery spread (You can use just olive oil. I added the Earth Balance because I like the buttery flavor.)
• 1/4 medium onion chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic thinly sliced
• Juice from a 1/2 fresh lemon squeezed  Finely grated manchego cheese (I used 3-month old manchego because it's softer)
• Salt & pepper

Let's Get Cooking:

• Boil water and cook the spaghetti for 8 minutes. The spaghetti will be a tad al dente but will cook a bit more in the pan when mixed with the braised arugula.

• Heat the olive oil and Earth Balance spread in a wok or large skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook until soft about 4 minutes. Add the garlic in with the onions and add some salt. Stirring occasionally, continue to cook until the garlic starts to get golden brown.

• Turn off the burner. Add in the kale and mix well with the onions and garlic. Continue to mix. The arugula will wilt pretty fast in under a minute while you're stirring. Turning off the burner will heat the arugula without wilting it too fast.

• When the arugula looks half way wilted, toss in the spaghetti, and mix thoroughly. Add a little bit more salt & pepper for taste. Squeeze in the juice from the 1/2 lemon. Stir the spaghetti and arugula again.

Put spaghetti in a serving platter. Let cool down for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle on shaved manchego on top of the dish. Enjoy!