I have a very passionate love affair with pasta. Growing up, we’d have pasta at least twice a week. Usually Sometimes more often. When I moved out of the house and in with my boyfriend, who happened to be diabetic, I had to cut way, way back. Pasta became a treat for my really bad days. And then there was that one time when he was out of town for a conference and I had pasta every night for five days straight. Annnnd that kinda cured my pasta cravings for awhile. Luckily, by the time my boyfriend and I got married, separated, and divorced, I had made up with pasta to want it all the time again. Pasta, pasta, pasta. Even just typing the title to my post made me drool and kinda crave cheese ravioli.
So, yes. I love pasta. The problem is, loving it that much, it is not so good for you. All those lovely, tasty carbs tend to stick around on your hips, thighs, and waist if you’re anything like me. Then, they are not so lovely. That’s why, a while back, when I saw whole grain pasta move from the pricey health-nut aisle into the more affordable everyday-pasta aisle, I picked up a box to try. Barilla makes a very tasty sauce; perhaps they knew what they were doing when it came to penne, as well. Of course, me being me, I brought them home, placed the box on my pasta shelf and promptly forgot all about it.
Then, about a week ago, my sister wrote me an email telling me I must try them. If I have a passionate love affair with pasta, Kim has a violent love affair with it. When she gave the whole grain goodness a thumbs up, I remembered all about my box that had been patiently waiting. I dug it out last week and gave it a whirl. I was a little skeptical – the penne had a slight brownish color to it, not unlike the difference between white bread and wheat bread. I do not like wheat bread. It tastes…wheat-ish. Perhaps I should have thought of that. Kim, she likes wheat bread. Hopefully it was unrelated. I poured (cheater) sauce (out of a can) over my macaroni and added the mandatory parmesan cheese. And…it was good! Not great, perhaps, but good enough to switch, I think. It certainly wasn’t the same as “normal” pasta. It did taste a bit “more” as my sister had warned, but it wasn’t wheat-ish. So that was a win. It did have a very slight aftertaste and it didn’t melt in my mouth the same way that normal pasta did, but I think I could move to whole-grain and save the real pasta for a treat. The only problem I found was that when I reheated the leftovers for lunch, the penne was kind of crumbly. It didn’t hold up well to reheating. But I guess I’ll live.
So: go try some. Let me know what you think. And then please send me lots of money so that I can afford shelling out 50% more for a package of pasta. In return, I will make you homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs. Because that isn’t fattening at all.
Tags: eating, food, whole grain pasta
Can't Get There From Here 
March 16, 2010 at 7:19 am |
Katie, I couldn’t wait to get to the part where you told us what you thought of the whole grain stuff! My oldest son and I are pasta lovers. We tried the whole grain stuff and thought it was okay, but I kind of thought it had a cardboardy flavor (or maybe aftertaste) I just made part of a box and the rest is still sitting in my cabinet.
March 16, 2010 at 7:44 am |
As another pastafarian, I’ve been thinking about trying the whole grain pasta… thanks for the review. I think I’ll give it a try.
BTW, there is no shame in using premade sauce. I know how to make my own sauce from scratch, but really, who has the time for that? I usually just use Prego, and if I’m feeling adventurous, I add some of the spices from when I make the sauce myself.
Reheating will be the big test though… we usually make a whole box of pasta at a time and eat on it for a couple of days.
March 16, 2010 at 10:31 am |
Dear Katie’s Bloggy Friends:
The pasta referenced is Barilla Plus. It’s actually not a whole grain pasta – it’s a *protein* pasta. For us vegetarian pastafarians, this is even better than whole grain…17 g of protein in the realistic-sized portion (not the itty-bitty one that NOBODY eats) before you even add cheese, etc. [Note: it’s because they use legume flour. Which I might need to experiment with in some baked goods recipes…]. Throw some edamame in pasta sauce and you’re halfway to full protein for the day! From *pasta*!
Also: I find that if you use smaller pasta, like elbows, it holds up much better to reheating than, say, rotini. Unless you’re throwing the ronis into baked ziti or homemade mac & cheese, in which case the additional tasty goo helps hold things together 🙂
March 16, 2010 at 4:22 pm |
I’ve been eating this stuff for years, either Barilla or Ronzoni (the kind with legumes or the kind that’s just whole grain – whichever I’m in the mood for.) The cost is absolutely absolutely worth it, because the fiber and protein fill you up. The pasta sauce I make doesn’t have meat in it, and I don’t want meat in it, but with this pasta, it makes a meal. I like the rotini as part of pasta salad in the summer. [In my grocery store in CT, there are at least half a dozen pasta brands that make this sort of thing, so perhaps you could do a bit of an experiment.]
March 16, 2010 at 11:18 pm |
oh ive had that, “the healthy stuff” as i put it. i like kims description of “more”. its not too wheaty and the off-coloring isnt THAT bizarre. Def not like that green ketchup mom got as a joke. even though it tasted like ketchup i couldnt eat it. seriously…green. ketchup. no. ooh! plus with the pasta being browner you can see if you missed a spot with the cheeeese =]
March 17, 2010 at 8:49 pm |
try rice pasta, you have to rinse it well and it does NOT hold up to reheating if it has any sauce on it (I keep it separate if there are to be leftovers for lunch) … apparently it is better for you than the semolina pasta. Oh and because of you I did something today. You can read about it in tomorrow’s post (grin)
xo