Last month I was in Vancouver WA and wandered into the Grocery Outlet there on the advice of a friend who said they carried gluten free pastas and picked up a few packages of various types the above tube pasta, shell pasta, fusilli, spaghetti and fettuccine.
I haven't tried the long pastas yet, opting for the shell pasta to start as I wanted to do a pasta salad on a recent hot weekend.
I read the instructions and grabbed my favorite pasta pot and set to work. At 9 minutes I found the pasta to be still very crunchy, so kept it cooking. I also found the water thickened quite a bit and that my favorite pasta pot was much too small to cook a whole package (it works with regular wheat pastas) and even cooking it longer couldn't get it to the texture that would be acceptable for both hubby and I (I prefer al dente, he prefers softer and I can usually come up with a compromise). I drained the pasta and rinsed it and let it cool down and then proceeded to make a pasta salad with tuna.
While the shells were still a bit too al dente for the hubby, I liked them. We both liked the flavor as it complemented the salad nicely. It was a very satisfactory meal.
The next pasta I tired was the tubetti rigati. This time I broke out the big pot to make sure there was plenty of room and water for boiling. Again I found it took longer then 9 minutes to get to the texture we wanted, but only a few more minutes more as I periodically took a sample for hubby to try. Finally got it right.
I then drained the pasta and since it was a hot meal, didn't rinse it. I tossed it with butter and then served it with some cubed beef and gravy I had made. Both hubby and I were very happy with the result. The gravy filled the little tubes and the pasta held up to the heavier topping very well.
The cost of the pasta was very good also, we picked them up at the Grocery Outlet for $1.99 a package, and when one is having to be gluten free, inexpensive and good quality replacements for wheat products is very helpful for the family food budget.
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