Sunday, August 21, 2011

Trader Joe's Brown Rice Pasta

Brown Rice Pasta


I was asked recently what kind of gluten-free pasta is good.  There are lots of horrible tasting ones out there.  I know.  I've tried quite a few.

This is from Trader Joe's and is not advertised as gluten-free.  It does have a label indicating that no gluten ingredients are used.

I have found that most of Trader Joe's products are made without much cross-contamination.  Not enough for me to notice.  That does not mean cross-contamination is not possible.  It just means that I must not be sensitive to that level of potential cross-contamination.  I do have cross-contamination problems with other products.

Gluten-free labeling is no guarantee of safety.  Each of us needs to evaluate what level of exposure to potential gluten cross-contamination is safe for us and act accordingly.  Please be safe.

I have had good luck with many of Trader Joe's "no gluten ingredients" products.

This is one of them.

We eat this pasta almost exclusively in our house now.  I used the fusilli in my Gluten-Free Greek Pasta Salad. Only rarely do we make gluten pasta, but sometimes we do make other non-glutenated pastas.  Some of those are more ethnic pastas and noodles.  But almost always they are gluten-free.

I have found that cooking gluten-free pasta takes a bit more attention than gluten pasta.  This brown rice pasta needs to be stirred more during the boiling, since it seems to release more starch into the water during the cooking.  Without more frequent stirring, it glues itself together.  Once I drain this pasta, I'm also sure to immediately rinse the pasta with cold running water.  This stops the cooking process and washes off the loose starch, so that the pieces don't stick together.

My family vetoed several different gluten-free pastas before we settled on this one.  This one tastes almost as good as gluten pasta and it is a close enough stand in that nobody minds having it.  It's texture is a bit different, but not significantly different.  The taste is closer to a whole wheat pasta than a white, durum wheat pasta.  We were happy when we found that both the taste and texture were acceptable to everyone in our household.

Once this is cooked, drained and rinsed, it can be used just as you would use any cooked gluten pasta.

Cook some up and add some homemade pesto for a delicious dinner!  Enjoy!

1 comment:

  1. Sounds like a great alternative for gluten-free people!

    ReplyDelete

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