The Trick to Making Perfect Gluten Free Pasta
It’s summer and we are sheltering at home in Los Angeles. One bright side of this quarantine is that people have found a renewed interest in home hobbies like gardening. I benefited from visiting a friend’s garden mid-town and going home with a heavy bag full of fruits and vegetables. Tomatoes are in season and these golden grape tomatoes are exquisite. Like candy!
After I scored these beautiful little tomatoes and basil I decided to make a pasta a la checca for lunch. But since I was diagnosed with cancer last year, I’ve pretty much cut gluten out of my diet and have stuck with it even after I finished treatment. It’s part of my dietary strategy to keep cancer from returning.
I love pasta but I would usually feel bloated and uncomfortable after eating it anyway due to the gluten in the wheat, so it’s not a huge sacrifice to switch to gluten free pasta made from a whole grain. I’ve tried so many different GF pastas, fancy ones, cheap ones, and I keep returning back to the only one I like — Trader Joe’s organic brown rice penne.
If cooked properly, it turns out perfectly al dente and is even good cold in a pasta salad. Gluten-free pasta in general is tricky and one minute overcooked will produce a mushy pasta that splits and falls apart. The trick? Don’t follow the directions on the package! Gluten free pasta will be most successful if you steam/boil it — keeping the lid on and turning heat down so it’s still boiling but not overflowing. Liberally salt the cooking water and when it boils, add pasta and put lid on.
Check to see when it returns to a boil and lower heat. I cook mine in a Dutch oven, which holds heat very well, so I boil the pasta on low. For a less heavy pot try medium-low heat. Set timer for the lowest number of the time range given on package. In the case of this TJ’s pasta I check it at 7 minutes. I gave it another 30 seconds or so, then drained, rinsed briefly and tossed with a little olive oil.
I tossed the cooked, hot pasta with about 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 clove of minced garlic, 1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh basil, then added freshly ground pepper and a pinch of Himilayan sea salt. I wish I’d had pine nuts on hand — toasted pine nuts would be a wonderful topping for this quick easy dish.
I hope you enjoy this no recipe recipe. I certainly did!
