As a kid, I grew up with my mom trying different whole-grain or wheat-free kinds of pasta every few months. I remember that corn pasta was utterly disgusting, rice pasta was mush, spelt and kamut pasta were tolerable, whole-wheat macaroni was tolerable, and white pasta was the world's biggest treat. (I'd request white pasta for my birthday every year). So when I suddenly found myself needing to find wheat-free pasta, I was pretty upset. All the alternatives were terrible, I thought! As I've discovered over the past few nears, not necessarily. So I thought I'd pass along some suggestions for those trying to eat pasta wheat- or gluten-free.
- Rice noodles: I started out with Asian-style rice noodles, which I used even pre-allergies to make pad thai, or as a base for curry when I was too lazy to make rice. I wouldn't recommend these noodles for Italian-style pasta recipes (they do not have nearly enough structual integrety to stand up to heavy sauces, and the flavour is very different). But I do recommend trying some Asian-inspired noodle dishes, because they're very tasty =D
- Soba Noodles: Soba noodles are a Japanese noodle made in part or completely with buckwheat flour. (Some soba noodle brands are pure buckwheat, but some cut with wheat flour, so check ingredient labels!) For years soba noodles were my solution to all things pasta. They are delicious for stir-fries, or just to eat straight with some sesame oil and soy sauce as a high-carb comfort food. They are also similar-ish in appearance to spaghetti and I used to use them as my catch-all pasta replacement. They don't taste exactly the same, but they were passable. Now that I've discovered some better pasta substitutes, I tend to reserve soba noodles for more Japanese- and Chinese-influenced dishes, but I still keep them around and thoroughly enjoy them
- Rice pasta: Several companies make Western-style pastas out of rice flour, to very mixed results. I know many people have had terrible experiences with rice pasta that falls apart upon cooking or turns to mush; I certainly had many such experiences as a child. However, I am happy to report there is now a good alternative: Tinkyada Brown Rice pasta! They make penne, fusilli, shells, elbow pasta (i.e. macaroni), and a really fun kids' mix that's all different shapes. (I dare you to try and eat pasta shaped like sailboats and bunny rabbits and not have a good time). I've found Tinkyada pasta at Save-on-Foods, and much cheaper at specialty stores (Greens on Broadway at Maple, Dollar Groceries on Commercial at 6th, and Tim's Fresh Produce on Broadway at Macdonald all carry it for $3.50-$4.00/lb; Dollar Groceries even sell it in bulk). I'd be shocked if Capers & Choices didn't also carry it. Unfortunately neither Costco nor Superstore stock it - SuperStore has a different brand of (white) rice pasta that I've never tried. The pasta is whole-grain and rice, but holds up to overcooking very well and yet isn't tough. Wheat-eating friends have really enjoyed it, and I'd say it's as good an equivalent to white pasta as whole-wheat pasta is. And it's so easy to cook! It takes longer than regular pasta, but the cooking strategy is to boil water, add the pasta, and then take it off the heat and cover - the residual heat in the water will cook it in <20 minutes. I haven't yet managed to overcook it, which is something I'm usually very good at (I have made so many recipes with pasty, over-boiled soba noodles before...) There isn't a spaghetti/linguine alternative I've managed to find yet, but I'm perfectly happy with fusilli or penne (it's what my family eats anyways); and I can't imagine a better alternative to wheat pasta.
- If you can eat spelt or kamut, both have been made into very decent pastas. I personally prefer the brown rice for shaped pasta (like penne), but for people who really want long noodles like spaghetti, both spelt and kamut brands have very good alternatives to offer.
Happy pasta-making!
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