Chorizo and Blue Cheese Pasta with Daikon Noodles- Grain-free and LOVING it!, GAPS

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This is the kind of dish that makes you want to pause, to appreciate the play of flavors and textures. It is the marriage of inspiration and moderation. No grains, no sugar, but lots of grass-fed fat, creaminess and nutrition.

I’ve been on the GAPS Diet for almost 4 years. During that time my sweet tooth took flight and has not been seen since. (It must have followed my pathogen overgrowth, whoopee!!)

What came in their place is a love for aged cheese. It is my satisfying, savory indulgence.

We have a cheese plate at every meal, even breakfast. Like the tang that sauerkraut gives, that helps you feel done, the fat and richness of cheese don’t leave you wanting for more. You know when you’re full.

Recently I found my favorite replacement for pasta. I have long loved zucchini noodles (“zoodles”) with tomato sauce and sausage, as well as other toppings. But I also have a unique love affair with the often-overlooked radish family.

Daikon radish makes the best pasta!  Have you tried it?

This recipe is not shy. It offers bold flavors delivered by cozy, creamy textures. The subtle spice of radish pasta, the earthy zest of chorizo, the aged bite of blue cheese with the nutty red bell pepper are all massaged with cream and butter.

This is a sublime dinner for those of us on GAPS because it’s hard to believe we’re “allowed” to have something so good. Even some raging hedonist who wouldn’t dare dip their toe in the waters of a healing diet will swoon and feel deeply satisfied with this dish!

I hope you won’t feel afraid of radishes! I’m a big proponent of cultivating an enjoyment of all the tastes, including bitter and spicy. More depth of emotion and experience awaits us when we dare to acquire new likes.

The generous fat from cheese, cream and butter is also something to embrace. These fats should be grass-fed. When sourced thus, they will leave you satisfied and provide the cholesterol our bodies crave, as well as omega-3 fatty acids.

Ingredients

• 24 inches of daikon radish, 2-3 inches in girth (see photo); this might be two foot-long pieces of daikon or 3-4 pieces, depending on how your market processes and displays the vegetable
• 1 lb. sustainably sourced chorizo
• 1 red bell pepper, de-seeded and sliced
• 1/2 cup heavy cream, grass-fed (or grass-fed butter if you don’t eat cream yet, healing-wise)
• 3 oz. blue cheese, crumbled, Organic Valley brand recommended
• 2 T. grass-fed butter
• 3/4 tsp. sea salt

Method

1. Peel the radish.
2. Use a spiralizer or vegetable peeler to create long noodles from the radish, rotating it as you go. Leave a core or stub behind when it gets too hard to create more noodles, depending on what kind of spiralizer you are using. (The core is delicious, [depending on how efficient your spiralizer is] cold, crispy and juicy to snack on raw.)
3. Cook the chorizo over medium heat in a large cast iron skillet, breaking up the meat into bite-size pieces as it cooks.
4. After 5 minutes, add the red bell pepper. Cook over medium-low heat until the pork is cooked through, about 15 minutes longer.
5. Meanwhile melt the butter in a large cast iron skillet or broad-based Dutch oven. Add the noodles and sea salt.
6. Saute them over medium heat, tossing them gently to evenly cook the noodles, for 10 minutes, until they are wilted and hot.

   

7. Toss the noodles with heavy cream, stirring and folding it in.
8. Plate the noodles, topping each mounded portion with sausage, red bell peppers and the blue cheese crumbles.
9. Serve with a green salad of romaine or arugula and sprouted walnuts, if tolerated.