by
Amy Zavatto
Noodle Me This
Plenty finds out which organic pastas stand up to the calling of our colander
When it comes to organic pasta, there are nearly as many flour bases as
there are noodle shapes—semolina pappardelle, whole-wheat fusilli, spinach
fettuccine. You could eat a different organic pasta dish every night of the week
for a month and not suffer a single repeat. Plenty tested five brands to help
you noodle your way through the plethora of choices at the grocery store.
Eden Organic Pasta
Company, Organic Golden
Amber Durum Wheat
Vegetable Ribbons
$3.69 for an 8-ounce box,
Rummo, Organic
Whole Wheat Penne Rigate
$2.49 for a 16-ounce bag,
pastarummo.com
edenpasta.com
Rummo’s organic penne
cooked evenly in the
suggested eleven minutes.
Its firm texture and mild
flavor worked well with
many different sauces—
although we thought it
was downright heavenly
swathed in a creamy alfredo.
Eden’s pappardelle-like
ribbons cooked to al dente
in about six minutes (but
still had a slightly gummy
texture). The lovely red, green,
and off-white noodles were best
dressed simply, with good,
old-fashioned extra-virgin olive oil.
Organica Di Sicilia, Durum
Semolina Rigatoni
$2.19 for a 16-ounce bag
DeBoles, Organic Spinach Fettuccine
$2.29 for an 8-ounce box
Although it took a full minute more of
cooking time (nine minutes total) than
the package suggested to reach al dente
consistency, this pasta cooked evenly,
had a buttery, almost gnocchi-like texture,
and seemed to gently absorb the flavor
of any sauce we put on it. Perfetto!
Though the cooked noodles stuck together
slightly, DeBoles had a good, firm texture
and a strong spinach flavor with a slight
after-tang, likely from the addition of
Jerusalem artichoke flour. We liked
it best with marinara or good olive oil
and parmesan.
Bionaturae, 100%
Whole Wheat Fusilli
$2.79 for a 16-ounce bag,
bionaturae.com
These twisty little noodles
were pleasantly dense (if a
little gritty) and left a flavor
reminiscent of whole-wheat
crackers—which some of our
panel appreciated, and some
did not. In our tasting, this
pasta worked best with a
big, powerful pesto sauce.
deboles.com
plentymag.com |
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