Top 10 Tips for Cooking Perfect Gluten-Free Pasta

image of rotini pasta salad provided by Catelli 

I recently blogged about Catelli’s gluten free pasta and they invited me participate in a special launch event for their new gluten free macaroni. I was unable to attend but you can see my post on their product and the thumbs up I've given them HERE.

There couldn't be a more appropriate topic to write about  after my recent trip to Roma.... (If you missed that post – you'll find a great Roman gluten-free round up HERE). 

GF pasta can be tricky stuff when you first get started... but with these tips you'll be ready to serve pasta to the fussiest of Italian palettes! 

Top 10 Pasta Cooking Tips

* Pasta should be cooked according to the directions on the pasta box. For some recipes that require the pasta to be cooked in sauce following boiling, however, an al dente consistency is preferred. For such recipes, cut one to two minutes off the cooking time on the package.

* When cooking pasta, use a large pot. You will need one quart of water to approximately 100 grams of pasta.  Using a large pot will give the pasta room to boil and not stick together.

* Over-seasoning the water with salt – bringing it almost to the taste of the sea – will substantially enhance the flavour profile of the dish. As a rule of thumb, use 10 grams of salt for one litre of water and 100 grams of pasta.

* Never add oil to the water when cooking pasta.  It does not keep it from sticking together.  In fact, the oil creates a coating that prevents the sauce from adhering to the pasta. This is undesirable because you want the pasta to soak up the sauce.

* Always stir the pasta for about 45 seconds after adding it to boiling water.  Then, stir occasionally as the cooking process continues, especially during the first three minutes, as that’s when the pasta can stick together.

* To test if the pasta is ready, bite into a noodle. If the external noodle is soft and yellow in colour (indicating doneness) and the core is a chalky white colour (indicating that it is a little underdone), the pasta is ready to be removed from the water.

* Never rinse pasta after cooking, as it’s important to retain the starch to enable the sauce to coat.

* For some recipes that require the pasta to be cooked in sauce following boiling (see first bullet point), add the pasta to the sauce in a separate pot. Finish cooking the pasta in the sauce for the final minutes of cooking, allowing the starch to fully release from the pasta into the sauce, adding full flavour to the pasta and making the eating experience more enjoyable.

* When making a pasta dish, think about the harmony of taste, texture and balance between noodle and sauce. Thin pasta strips, for example, work best with a classic tomato, seafood or pesto sauce. Thicker pasta cuts, such as fettuccine, are wonderful for a cheese or cream-based sauce. Filled pasta is ideal with a light tomato broth or cream sauce.

* Use herbs generously for added flavour. When using parsley – the most used herb in the Italian kitchen – don’t chop it, but rather, slice it with a sharp knife.  If you see a green stain when you cut herbs, that means your knife is not sharp and you are losing flavour.  For basil, another popular pasta-enhancing herb, tear the leaves rather than chop them to avoid bruising the herb. Always add herbs to the pasta at the last minute to retain their vibrant colour and natural flavour.

These tips are brought to us by Chef John Higgins, Director of the leading George Brown Chef School in Toronto. He is also a judge on the Food Network’s Chopped Canada and was formerly personal chef for the Queen Mother. He helped launch Catelli's latest product with a cooking demonstration. You can click on the link above to learn more about Catelli and their growing range of fine gluten-free products. 

Catelli Gluten-Free Pasta

I was recently asked if I'd be interested in reviewing Catelli's new gluten-free pasta. As a blogger you get this kind of offer quite frequently. This time I was curious enough to accept a box to try. 
I've posted on pasta before. After living two years in Italy, I have learned that pasta is not to be taken lightly… and that good pasta (gluten-free or otherwise) is not as fool proof as some think. It needs lots of boiling water - plenty of salt, watching, testing and an agile maneuver to drain it quickly before it over cooks. 

Never, ever, rinse the pasta. 

I'm very happy to report that this box of Catelli did not disappoint. William and I whipped up this dish on a night when we were way too exhausted to put much time or effort into the sauce. We chopped up red onion, bacon, and tossed in a (gasp) JAR of organic primavera sauce that we let simmer for 30 minutes. Just before serving we tossed in fresh spinach. We drained the pasta and stirred it into our nearly instant sauce. This simple dinner was totally terrific. Add a few candles to the table, and it was even romantic!

We loved the texture and consistency of the fusilli. It's a little bit heavier than the brown rice version we've been eating. This is likely due to a tighter shape but also the inclusion of other grains. It's made with both brown and white rice, corn and quinoa. Molto, molto buono. 

I am delighted to have a new option on the shelf to choose from. I'd love to know how the spaghetti fares. That shape can be rather tricky in the gluten-free category. While I've been cooking gluten-free pasta for more than 30 years… in my experience it's difficult to find long pastas like spaghetti and fettucini that don't clump together. I'll be giving Catelli's a test drive. For those of us with serious gluten restrictions, you'll be happy to know that this product is made in a strictly gluten-free facility. Grazie Catelli - e buon appetito!

Italian gluten-free pasta - good enough for Italians :)

I've written here about the time I spent living in Italy but I've never written about the gluten-free PASTA. We cooked a lot of it and it was constantly fed to house loads of Italian guests. 

If you've ever eaten with an Italian in Italy, then you know that there are lots of opinions about the pasta. You don't mess with it. Finding a gluten-free pasta that would satisfy these discerning palates was quite a feat.

The pasta that met approval was Le Veneziane. It's made in Italy and distributed widely, but not found in most large retail chains in Canada - when I come across it I snatch it up. My mom seems to find it more often and buys it too. 

This is a corn based pasta, which makes a nice change from our typical brown rice. It also comes in a variety of shapes that you don't often find - like nests of capellini or these tiny little anellini, shown below. 

Italians serve tiny pasta shapes to babies. I like integrating them into soup. Usually a broth, but I recently cooked some up and added it to my lentil soup - which really beefed it up. 

The pasta, which is made of corn flour looks very yellow in the box, but you can see that it cooks up to look exactly the same colour as wheat pasta.

You can contact Le Veneziane via their website HERE to learn where to find their products near you. As always, this is not a paid endorsement. Just sharing my favorite finds. 

You can read more about the small town where I spent a year in Italy HERE along with a post about making polenta :)

gluten-free dinner for one

rapini with rotini rice pasta and cured black olives

For years I lived alone and quickly learned that the trick to cooking for one, is not to. I cook things that work well over a few meals. Two or three nights of making dinner is all I need to have a few dishes on rotation for lunches and dinners over a week. 

There are lots of foods that work well this way - some obvious ones are chili, soups or lasagna,which all freeze well too. When I make these, I freeze a few portions that I can add into my rotation of meals in future weeks.

Rapini is hands down my favourite vegetable. When Bill is away on road trips, I tend to eat it up to 3 nights a week. A large head of rapini ensures that I get a good dose of greens in a week too. Check out my post HERE on how I cook rapini (which is great on its own!) and toss it with pasta and olives. When it cools I dole up what's left into sandwich bags and take it to work to heat up for lunches.

Soprano's baked ziti - gluten free alla famiglia!

Baked ziti... brings out my inner Carmella. I have an urge to poof up my hair, glue on some fake nails, put on every piece of jewelry I own and yell "Dinna's ready!!". 

When I first watched the Sopranos I kept wondering why they were always pulling a baked ziti out of the oven... until my Sopranofile buddies Bennett & Angela bought me the official Sopranos cookbook. Madonna... the mystery of mafia dinners were suddenly unveiled. 

Baked ziti is not something I ever came across in my adventures across Italy - but in Jersey I believe this is a staple. It's so easy... and makes the best leftovers on the planet. Not that there is ever much left over. What I particularly like about this dish, is that gluten-free pasta works just as well as "regular"... we have fed hoards of unsuspecting teenagers the gluten-free version of this dish.

Here's how it's done: Boil a large pot of water. While you wait, remove the meat from the casings of a few hot Italian sausages and fry the chunks of meat. Boil rice penne shaped pasta until ALMOST al dente (not as soft as you'd normally serve). Drain and put back in the saucepan. Stir in a jar of healthy tomato sauce and the sausage meat. 

Pour half of the pasta mixture into a large glass baking dish. Scoop teaspoonfuls of fresh ricotta cheese and scatter evenly across the dish. Spread the remaining pasta over top and sprinkle with a generous amount of grated mozzarella and parmigiano cheese. Essentially, it's a super easy version of a lasagna. Bake in the oven at 375 for 30 minutes. Remove and let sit for a few minutes.  Cut into squares as you would a lasagna. Mamma mia... you gonna be so happy. Buon appetito!