Today is my husband’s birthday, and part of his present every year (besides being married to someone awesome like me 😉) is that I make him whatever he wants for dinner. This year, he chose his favorite pasta recipe. I started making this recipe years ago when I could still eat dairy without being miserable for the next 24 hours straight, so I was really bummed when I had to stop eating it because it contains both mozzarella and cream cheese. Then, I began finding more and more lactose-free substitutes on the market and now I can eat it again!
There are actually 4 substitutions I make in this recipe. The first is that I use spicy Italian sausage instead of regular, just because I like spicy food. Next, I use Kraft brand shredded cheese because they now process many of their cheeses to have 0 grams of lactose, just like this mozzarella!
Then, of course I use this awesome lactose-free cream cheese I found at Whole Foods instead of the regular kind that will inevitably make me wish for death later in the evening.
The final substitution I make is in the spinach product. The regular recipe calls for creamed spinach, which contains (duh) cream, so I use frozen chopped spinach instead. Also, I omit the onion because both of us hate onions. So I guess I just use the recipe as a concept now and have reinvented it for my own purposes. Even so, it’s delicious, and my husband (who isn’t lactose intolerant) can’t taste a difference between the full-dairy version I’ve made previously and the updated version I make now.
Disclaimer: The substitutes I use are great for lactose intolerant people who want to eat delicious food and avoid a terrible stomachache, but I do NOT recommend them if you have a dairy allergy. There could still be something in there that could cause you to drop dead, so try at your own risk if you have an allergy.
So happy birthday to my wonderful hubby and let’s eat the fuck out of some creamy spicy pasta! I highly recommend this recipe.
Musings of a Dog Mom 