Cooking For The Lactose Free Gourmet

Even though I've been lactose intolerant for more years than I care to admit on the internet, I do not own a single lactose-free cookbook.  Heck, I'm not even sure if there ARE any lactose-free cookbooks.  I know there are dairy-free cookbooks, but I'm not really dairy-free.  I can have butter and (most) cheeses and milk - as long as it is lactose-free.  My favorite recipes can accommodate these issues, but occasionally, I get adventurous and try to adapt something new.

Last night, was one of those evenings.  I was feeling adventurous and sassy so why not?

I went to my favorite go-to cookbook, The Best of Cooking Lite (2004), and chose "Gorgonzola Fettuccine with Asparagus."  Yum, right?  I looked over the ingredient list... fettuccine (no problem), asparagus (yep!), 2 tsp of butter (no worries), 4 cloves of garlic (great), 1 T of flour (still nothing to worry about), 1 1/4 cup low-fat milk (I can use lactose-free), 1/2 cup of Gorgonzola cheese (may be a little worrisome, but I can put less on my portion and hope for the best), 2 T of walnuts (love).... and uh-oh... 2 ounces of cream cheese (not good at all).

I knew with the exception of the walnuts (I have a nut-free child), every one would love this recipe, so I moved ahead with my plans and did what every lactose-intolerant person has to do... I made two sauces. One with the cream cheese and one without.

When you are lactose intolerant, you'd better own more than a few sauce pans and have more than a little time on your hands.

This was an incredibly easy recipe.  The pasta was cooked and the asparagus was added to the boiling pasta water 2 minutes before the pasta was finished.  In one sauce pan I made a rue about of butter, garlic and flour before adding the milk and cream cheese... in the other pan, I left out the cream cheese.  When the pasta, asparagus and sauce were cooked and ready to plate, I tossed with the Gorgonzola....

Voila!  My cream-cheese-free, walnut-covered portion!

And everyone else's cream-cheese-filled, walnut-less portion.  As you can see, the cream cheese made the sauce a whole lot creamier, but mine was still delicious.  

I think the whole thing took about 12 minutes.  Here's the lactose-free recipe:

Gorgonzola Fettuccine with Asparagus (adapted for the Lactose Intolerant)

8 oz uncooked fettuccine

3 cups diagonally sliced asparagus (about 10 oz)

2 t butter or margarine

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 T all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cup fat-free, lactose-free milk

1/4 t salt

1/2 cup (or less depending on how you tolerate Gorgonzola cheese.  I used probably less than 1/4 cup)

              Gorgonzola cheese

2 T chopped walnuts

1.  Cook the pasta in boiling water for 6 minutes, omitting salt and fat.  Add the sliced asparagus and cook for 2 minutes or until the pasta and asparagus are tender.

2.  Drain pasta and asparagus, place in a large bowl.  Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add the garlic, and cook 3 minutes.  Add flour;  cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly.  Gradually add milk, stirring well with a whisk.  Add salt and allow to thicken.

3.  Add sauce to pasta mixture;  toss to coat.  Serve with Gorgonzola and walnuts.