Gluten Free Veal Meatballs with Pappardelle

Pappardelle are large, wide ribbons of pasta originating in Tuscany. According to Wikipedia, the name Pappardelle derives from the verb “pappare”, to gobble up. In this dish, pappardelle noodles are paired with delicate veal meatballs in a mushroom wine sauce with just a touch of sour cream. What a meal, and gobble it up we did!

These days, common pasta shapes like penne and fusilli are widely available in a variety of gluten free grains. Still, I have yet to find an affordable gluten free replacement for pappardelle. Read on to see how I quickly recreated the wide noodles I was missing with this easy kitchen hack, here’s a hint!

4 Servings

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Ingredients:

For the Pappardelle:

6 ready bake gluten free lasagna sheets

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For the Meatballs:

1/2 lb. ground veal
1 egg
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 tbsp. sweet onion, finely chopped
1 tsp. Italian parsley
salt and pepper
2 tbsp. gluten free breadcrumbs
2 tbsp. potato flakes

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For the Sauce:

1/4 cup sweet onion, finely chopped
1 tsp. minced garlic
olive oil
1 tbsp. fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cup baby spinach, coarsely chopped
1 cup white mushrooms, sliced
1 cup gluten free chicken broth
1/3 cup white wine
2 tbsp. sour cream
1 tbsp. arrowroot starch

Preparation:

To make the pappardelle, I soaked the lasagna noodles in hot water to soften them up, just enough to cut through. After about 10 minutes I used a pastry wheel to break each noodle into wide ribbons. The edges were a little jagged but overall I was happy.

To make the meatballs, whisk the egg, garlic, onion, parsley, salt and pepper in a large bowl.

Add the veal and mix well, using your hands.

Add the breadcrumbs and potato flakes, and work thoroughly into the meat mixture.

Line a baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray. Form 12-14 small meatballs, 1-1/2″ in size.

Broil the meatballs 4 minutes on each side, turning once. The meatballs will still be a little pink, that’s fine. They will finish cooking in the sauce.

Set up a large pot of salted water to boil.

To make the sauce, cook the onions and garlic in a heavy skillet or braising pan with a little olive oil. Add the mushrooms, and cook until they begin to release their liquid. Season with salt and pepper. Add the wine and all but 1/4 cup of the chicken broth.

Add the spinach and stir it in to wilt.

Whisk the reserved 1/4 cup chicken broth, arrowroot starch and sour cream together until smooth and stir into the skillet. Return the meatballs to the pan with the sauce and simmer a few minutes until heated through.

To finish the dish, cook the pasta noodles for about 3 minutes, just until al dente. Drain the pasta and use tongs to drop the noodles into the skillet (so they don’t stick together). Garnish with Italian parsley and serve.

Notes: ♪♫ Someday soon I will make pappardelle noodles from scratch. Until then, I can absolutely recommend the Barilla ready bake gluten free lasagna noodles that I used in this recipe. I loved them in this traditional meat Lasagna recipe and will use this hack again to cut noodles of any length and width that I prefer!