Sunday, March 30, 2014

Barilla Gluten Free Pasta

In the last year, Barilla, Ronzoni and Mueller's have started making gluten free pasta.  I have been using Le Veneziane, BiAglut and DeLallo gluten free pastas for several years.  You can read more about these products in my blog post entitled Pasta - You Don't Have to Settle.   


I have seen Barilla gluten free pasta at Publix for months, but I must admit, I was a little skeptical.  For the first couple of years after my celiac diagnosis, I ate way too many awful gluten free pastas, and I was happy with the three brands I have been buying.  I finally caved and bought a box of Barilla when I realized I was running low on BiAglut.  One thing about Barilla that I liked right away was the price.  So why didn't I choose Mueller's or Ronzoni?  The main reason is that Barilla is made with a combination of non-GMO corn and rice, and their spaghetti, penne, rotini and elbows are made in a dedicated gluten-free facility in Italy.  All of the best gluten free pastas I have eaten are from Italy, and I like the fact that Barilla is non-GMO.  You can read more about the three brands, and how they compare here.  


I was excited to try Barilla gluten free rotini after the overwhelmingly positive response to my Facebook post showing a picture of the box I purchased at Publix.   I cooked it in my medium size pot with one tablespoon of salt, which I added after the water started to boil.  Don't skimp on the salt when you cook pasta, because it seasons it as the pasta absorbs liquid.  


My daughters and I tried the pasta on Friday night.  My husband had to stay at work, so I wanted to make a simple dinner.  Part of keeping it simple was serving the rotini with butter and grated Romano and Parmesan cheeses.  My daughters love pasta with butter and cheese, and serving it this way allowed me to really taste the pasta, and not be distracted by sauces, vegetables, or meat. 

My verdict - Barilla makes some really great gluten free pasta!  Is it better than the three brands I currently use?  I would still give BiAglut and Le Veneziane a very slight edge on texture, plus they have a much more diverse selection of noodle shapes to choose from.  I also like that BiAglut makes larger 1 pound bags of pasta, which are better for our family of four.  The girls and I almost finished the 12 ounce box of Barilla, so there would not have been enough pasta if my husband had been home for dinner.

Pros for Barilla - It is more accessible than BiAglut in the United States, and the price is lower than other brands of gluten free pasta that I buy.  I followed the directions on the box, cooking the rotini for 7 minutes, and it was perfectly al dente.  Barilla pasta does not require a cold water rinse, which is a huge pro in my book.  I was also really impressed by how well the leftovers reheated the next day.  My in-laws and one of my blog readers have also told me that Barilla is a great pasta to use in pasta salad.  My pasta obsessed, gluten eating daughters gave it two thumbs up, and said it tasted exactly like the gluten filled pasta they eat in restaurants.

I will definitely be buying Barilla rotini in the future, but I will still continue to purchase gluten free pastas made by DeLallo, BiAglut and Le Veneziane.  The more great gluten free pasta options I have, the better!


Amazon has some great prices on Barilla gluten free pasta.  You can check out their selection here.

My Publix carries Barilla gluten free rotini and spaghetti, and I recently found the penne in Super Target.

November 30, 2014 Update

Since writing this blog post, we have tried Barilla rotini, spaghetti, penne, and elbows, and loved them all.  I now buy the spaghetti to make carbonara frittata, and I always make sure we have a box or two of Barilla penne in the house. 


Have you tried Barilla?  What are your favorite brands of gluten free pasta?



2 comments:

  1. We like Andean Dream Gluten Free Organic Quinoa Pastas. It's delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The very best gluten free pasta I have ever tried!! I love it!!!

    ReplyDelete