pasta

My children are weird.  They love spaghetti noodles, but they hate spaghetti sauce.  At least I now have a variety of gluten free pastas that I can give them.  This week, I tried Mrs. Leeper's Rice Spaghetti. 

This pasta cooked up much like any other pasta that I have tried.  You bring the water to a boil, toss in the rice noodles, and stir.  The recommended time is eight to nine minutes, but the best method is to taste a noodle to see if they are done.  

When it came time to serve, Mrs. Leeper's noodles seemed to firmer than most of the other gluten free spaghetti's that I have used.  It had a slightly hardier taste because the pasta was made with brown rice instead of white.  My wife did not like the taste, but both girls and myself ate quite a bit.

Though I still have a preference for the bionaturæ pasta, I would not have any problem buying Mrs. Leeper's Rice Spaghetti again.

One of the complaints that I have about many gluten free product manufacturers is they don't make many products for children.  I have yet to be able to feed my oldest daughter a bowl of alphabet soup.  Fortunately there are a few products out there.  Today's example is Glutano's Animal Shapes pasta.  

Though I have seen no evidence to the contrary, Glutano's animal shapes consist of a duck, and that is it.  Since this is an imported British product, there may be more that I haven't seen in America.  However, this is a fun shape that appealed to my kids.  The oldest cannot eat the Clifford, Arthur, or the Sponge Bob shaped pasta that the other kids get to eat.

Now I had to prepare this pasta twice before I reviewed it.  The first time I did not follow the directions, and stirred while the pasta cooked.  If you make the same mistake, you will end up with a bowl full of little pasta slivers.  However, if you follow the directions, and let the gluten free pasta sit and simmer after the initial stir, you end up with a bowl of little pasta ducks that you can feed your kids.

The ducks did have a good chew, and held together nicely as I mixed various sauces into the noodles.  Like a regular pasta noodle, this gluten free pasta has a mild flavor of its own that carries the flavor of the sauce.

Because this is one of the few gluten free fun shaped pastas, this will be purchased again.  

Though most of the gluten free products that I have been reviewing have been for my daughter, but my wife also has a problem with wheat.  She occasionally needs something to take to work with her to heat and eat, so today I'm reviewing the Fettuccini Alfredo from a new product line called All Natural Gluten Free Café. 

Now this is the first product line that I have seen that is making frozen entrées specifically for people with a gluten intolerance.  In most cases the entrée in their normal product line just happens to be gluten free.  I'll accept either because it give me a greater selection to feed the wife and kids when I don't have the time to cook a full meal.

The reheat directions were simple to follow, and it was heated all the way through when done.  When the film lid came off the package, there was the strong smell of Parmesan and Romano cheese.  It looked really appealing and the rice noodles remained solid when I stirred.

The taste matched the smell.  The Alfredo sauce never clumped, and it evenly coated all of the noodles in the bowl.  Each bite was brought the rich taste of cream and melted cheese to my mouth.  The noodles were a limper than I like, but it did not take anything away from this dish.  Next time I have this, I might pan fry some popcorn shrimp and stir them into the bowl.

I liked it, and my wife liked it for two reasons.  The first was that it tasted really good, and the second was the prebiotics that Gluten Free Café added to the Fettuccini Alfredo.   She has a problem with cream sauces.  She likes pasta Alfredo, but it doesn't like her.  This was the first cream sauce that she has had in a long time that didn't upset her stomach.

This will be bought again.

bionaturæ has been one of my favorite producers of gluten free pasta.  Unlike most gluten free pasta manufacturers, bionaturæ uses rice, potato, and soy flours to produce a dried pasta that is similar to the noodles made with durum wheat.  

Now when I decided to review the penne pasta, I thought I would see how well bionaturæ holds up as a left over.  The problem that I have had with most gluten free pastas is that they start to dissolve if they stay moist.  The worst example of this is the corn pasta that is used in Mrs. Leeper's instant meals.  Though I love these meals when they just come off of the stove, they do not sit well in the refrigerator.  After 24 hours, the corn pasta becomes a corn porridge.  I wanted to see what the bionaturæ noodles would do in a left over casserole.

The good news is the pasta held its shape rather nicely.  Though the noodles did seem softer after the time spent in the refrigerator, they did not break down.  I was rather pleased with the pasta handled itself.  I had given up on making a gluten free macaroni salad, but now I think I will give it a try.

There is always some of the bionaturæ in my pantry.