The following evening, my next dinner guest called me the day of the dinner party to tell me he just found out a few weeks ago that he is allergic to onions and garlic. Well, practically everything in my repertoire involves onions and garlic, so I wasn't quite sure how I was going to make anything taste good without it!

I put my thinking cap on. Since my friend loves pasta with red sauce, I wanted to come up with one that didn't have garlic or onions.

I decided to roast Roma tomatoes with olive oil and kosher salt until they caramelized, and then chopped up fresh basil and Italian parsley. I tossed all three ingredients into my food processor just until coarsely chopped.

Then, I mixed the sauce in with my penne pasta and added chopped black olives, a tad more olive oil, red pepper flakes and plenty of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. It was major hit!

I then grilled organic chicken breasts that I marinated in a citrus glaze and served it over a garlic-free Caesar salad along with fresh, oven-roasted asparagus drizzled with a balsamic glaze.


Learn how Cristina made dinner for a guest who could not eat red meat or fat of any kind.