Baked Penne Pasta with Bison

Gluten-Free Penne Bake with a béchamel sauce, Parmesan and bison.

Gluten-free Baked Penne with Bison

So while everyone else is vowing to eat better this new year – I’m starting off the year making a bunch of pasta and goat cheese dishes. 🙂

Ever since we found bionaturae gluten free Italian pasta, I have been in pasta heaven.  

The taste and texture really beats any of the other gluten free pastas I’ve tried so far.  It is made with organic rice, potato and soy.  And we love it!

We use the pasta with goat cheese Alfredo sauce and one of our favorite original recipes for spicy chicken spaghetti.

Of course you have to try the spaghetti with meatballs and red sauce, too. And we love the linguine with a little Parmesan, pepper, ghee and oil for a super easy dish on Meatless Mondays!   And I recently made Pasta Carbonara with it and it was fantastic.

So when you cook the penne al dente, it really holds up to the sauce in this casserole.  

This baked penne recipe is based on Bon Appetite’s Best Baked Ziti. They use a béchamel sauce and Parmesan instead of ricotta cheese.  Spectacular!

We modified some of the ingredients to fit within my dietary restrictions.  

  • I used bionaturae gluten free and organic penne pasta (cooking for only 5 minutes before adding it to the casserole with all the other goodies).  
  • The roux is made with ghee and GF all purpose flour from Bob’s Red Mill (bean blend without xanthan gum).  
  • The béchamel is made with So Delicious coconut milk creamer diluted with a little water.  
  • Using store-bought organic marinara sauce was easier than making my own sauce.
  • And I also added ground bison to it because why not.

You know, I’ve really been wanting to make something like this for a long time and I was so happy it turned out so well – on my first try, too.  

And leftovers were the bomb.  Yay! Bon appetite indeed!

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Gluten-free Baked Penne with Bison

We’ve adapted bon appétit’s best baked ziti into a gluten free version with a béchamel made from coconut milk creamer and ghee then added in ground bison.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Keyword baked penne, bison
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 22 minutes
Total Time 42 minutes
Servings 8
Author Deana Larkin Evans

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp melted ghee
  • 1 tablespoon GF all purpose flour
  • 1 cup + 2 tbsp coconut milk, room temperature
  • 1 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • Olive oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 lb ground bison
  • 26 oz jar organic marinara sauce
  • 8 oz gluten free pasta
  • Salt & Pepper

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degree F.
  2. Make the béchamel sauce by adding the ghee and flour to a small saucepan. Whisk over medium heat for about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the coconut milk and bring to boil. Lower the heat and let cook until nice and thick, stirring often. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of the Parmesan cheese (save the remaining 1/4 cup for the top of the casserole). Cover and set aside.
  3. Add a little olive oil to a skillet and add the chopped onion. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Turn up the heat a little and add the ground bison, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until browned and crumbled. There shouldn’t be any fat, but drain if necessary. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
  4. Meanwhile, boil some filtered water and add salt and the pasta. Cook for 5 minutes and then drain.
  5. Mix together the béchamel cheese mixture and 3/4 of the bottle of marinara sauce. Add in the pasta and bison. Stir well and then transfer to a baking dish. Pour the remaining marinara sauce from the jar on top of the casserole and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese.
  6. Bake for 20 minutes. Then turn the boiler to high and broil the top for about a minute or two. Remove from the oven and then let rest for a few minutes before serving. And most importantly – enjoy!

Deana Larkin Evans

You get one life - do your best to ENJOY IT! So hi, I'm Deana. This food blog is all about cooking wholesome real food and developing gluten-free recipes for some of our favorite comfort foods. I had to start eating gluten-free in 2010, then cut dairy and casein (except for the occasional Parmesan) in 2014. We learned A2 casein (goat, sheep and buffalo milk) is easier to digest than the predominate A1 form in cow milk. So we brought back goat milk dairy into our recipes in 2016. Thank goodness, right! So I'm kind of a science nerd, too. In the '90s, I earned an undergrad degree in biochemistry from The University of Texas at Austin. Hook 'em! Then followed up with a PhD in biochemistry and a law degree from the University of Houston. I recently earned a certificate in genomics/sequence analysis from Johns Hopkins University, where I also took a very cool food microbiology course. Currently, I'm learning about the microbiome and gut health. And trying to come up with healthy recipes to feed those gut bugs! #feedthegutbugs

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