Gluten Free Pasta

I was very nervous the first time I tried gluten free pasta. I was pretty certain it would taste different, or at least have a different texture. I wasn’t too crazy about the price, either – at my local grocery store one pound of spaghetti brown rice noodles cost three times as much as the standard cheapo spaghetti you see everywhere else.

I think the main reason I was scared was because of my bad experience with whole wheat pasta. I hated the texture, I hated the taste of it – I ate it because it was supposedly “good for you” – but now I also understand it’s not good for you at all if you’re gluten intolerant!

So, with much hesitation, I bought the pasta. My husband relies heavily on spaghetti as a staple in his diet, and so to stop making it completely would be pretty hard for him.

As skeptical of it as I was, I am so glad I tried it sooner than later. Why? Because it tastes no different than the pasta you’ve come to love and probably hate at the same time.

I have used mostly Tinkyada Brown Rice Spaghetti and as far as texture goes, they are just perfect for spaghetti. While online you have to order a case of 12 of them, if you can’t find this brand anywhere near you, it’s worth sharing a case with a gluten free friend or two as it may be significantly cheaper for you all that way.

Nutritionally speaking, I like that the noodles are whole grain rice, and unlike my bad experience with whole grain wheat pasta, there is no after taste, no weird texture issues.

A new world of cooking opportunities opens up when you have gluten free noodles available to you again. You can suddenly make anything from your traditional spaghetti to alfredo to even a pasta salad to take along with you to a picnic.

Cooking the brown rice pasta is not any more difficult than you would cook any other ordinary pasta – simply boil water, add it in, and wait. It takes a bit longer than traditional pasta, and you’ll have to taste it a few times to make sure the texture is right and it’s fully cooked. (My first batch was a little too “al dente”) Once you’re done cooking them, rinse them from the starch in the pan, and you’re ready to top and mix in with your favorite sauce. I find that out of every 1 pound bag, my husband and I get about three servings of spaghetti.

I love shortcuts in all of my cooking, so here is my standby gluten free spaghetti recipe that serves 2 – if you need more, just double or triple it:

1/2 pound ground beef
1 small onion, diced
1/3 pound of gluten free spaghetti noodles
Minced garlic or garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon of Tones Spaghetti Seasoning (Most Tone’s Products are Gluten Free – if you don’t happen to have this, a dash of oregano and basil usually does the trick)
1 12-16 ounce can of GF tomato sauce (Hunt’s brand should be gluten free)

Directions: Bring water to a boil and add in gluten free pasta. Let it cook while boiling until it’s about ready to bubble over from all the starch, then turn it down to medium heat. Brown the ground beef in a skillet with the onion. Once the meat is browned, drain and stir in can of sauce and seasonings.

By now your noodles should be close to done, and you usually should stir them while they are cooking. Taste it – if it’s not hard to chew, it’s ready. Drain and rinse the noodles and then stir them in with the sauce.

After all that, you’re ready to serve and enjoy. We usually like our pasta with a nice salad of baby green spinach. On days I don’t have salad ingredients, I may cook some frozen veggies such as squash or spinach in with the sauce.

Anyways, if you’ve been searching for a good gluten free pasta, you might want to give Tinkyada Pastas a try – you might just be pleasantly surprised like I was!