GET TO THE POINT, PAPA:
Pasta is a big deal in our house, and now it needs to be gluten-free. First up: Barilla Gluten-Free Penne. Would it fly with the family? Yep. Everybody ate it, the Sous annihilated it, and the leftovers reheated well. We’re buying it again.
Now, onto the rest of the story.
Gluten-free pasta wasn’t something I worried much about professionally.
If someone couldn’t eat gluten, there were other things on the menu. Pasta could simply be avoided.
At home, pasta is a big part of how we eat, and our Family Sauce is a big fucking deal. I’ve been chasing the dream of making that sauce taste like Nonna’s for years. “Just don’t have pasta” ain’t gonna fly.
So now I need to figure out gluten-free pasta. Not a sad, “Here dear—eat this compromise and pretend it’s okay.”
I’ve cooked pasta professionally and at home for decades, so I know what I expect from it. Take the wheat out, though, and I’m basically starting over.
Rather than assume gluten-free pasta is good, bad, or something we just have to tolerate, I’m going to test the shit on the entire family. The question is—will it fly?
First up: Barilla Gluten-Free Penne.
What I’m Working With
Barilla Gluten-Free Penne
340 g
Rice flour + corn flour
$3.77 at Walmart in Saint-Eustache
The box says 10 minutes for al dente, 11 if you want it more tender.
Tonight, I’m serving it with our Family Sauce—which seems like a pretty fair fucking test. If gluten-free pasta is going to work in this house, it needs to work here.
The Plan
I usually cook 500 g in one go (so we have leftovers). I’m starting with the same baseline, so roughly one-and-a-half times the 340 g box for the four of us.
I’ll taste it as it cooks, see how close the box directions are to what I actually consider al dente, and pay attention to the texture, flavour and how well it holds the sauce.
Then I’m serving it to the family. The plan is to treat it just like any other pasta—use the pasta water and Parmesan, and toss it until you hear the sounds of amore.
I don’t need gluten-free pasta that’s pretty good for gluten-free pasta. I want pasta we can put on the table without feeling like we’re eating the consolation-prize version of supper.
The Test
Update (like, only six days later—what do you want? I remembered.)
The Barilla Gluten-Free Penne got its shot with the Family Sauce, and it passed.
Mrs. Sandemano liked it. The Kid liked it. The Sous demolished his bowl, went back for another one, and later raided the leftovers.
If you know me, you know that, of course, I also changed the sauce. What did you think was gonna happen, after my trip to Italy?
But that’s not the point. They were eating the new sauce, and nobody complained about the pasta. In fact, they only asked after the fact whether or not it was gluten-free.
So, the noodles held up, they carried the sauce, and a bonus—the leftovers reheated nicely. They weren’t sad gluten-free pasta leftovers the next day.
And that’s the whole test, right?
Could we eat this? Would we enjoy it? Of course.
Papa Notes
One thing I’m already curious about is the package size. At 340 g, one box works out to 85 g each for four people. I’m used to figuring roughly 100 g of dry pasta per person, usually making a little extra for leftovers.
So before I’ve even boiled the water, there’s Test #1:
Why is the fucking box only 340 g?
Portioning: 500 g worked out basically the same as regular pasta for us — about five portions, with only a little left over. That means three boxes (1020 g) cover two meals made with 500 g.