Imported Organic Italian Rice Pasta

I just happened to see a new gluten-free pasta at one of my favorite little grocery stores today, City Market in NW Portland. It's an imported Italian penne rigate pasta. It's made from white rice flour. Italians make the best pasta, of course. This is especially true when we're talking gluten-free pasta. There are a lot of celiacs living in Italy, and they are more aware of the condition in europe compared to the US. I'll try this pasta out for you and let you know if it lives up to my very high expectations, considering I spent $8 on an 8.8-oz package! I think this officially qualifies as the most expensive pasta I've ever bought at a store.

The brand name is Rustichella D'Abruzzo. It carries an organic farming seal as well as a gluten-free seal, neither of which I'm familiar with. They also had two types of corn pasta, one from the same company, also imported from Italy.

Has anyone else seen this or any other brand of imported Italian pasta in a local store?

Comments

Rebecca said…
$14.55 a pound?! I think you need to get out your pasta maker and start making your own. You could sell it on the street corner and make a fortune.

For that price, couldn't you just buy steak or lobster? Or gold?
August 1, 2009 at 9:47 AM
Gina said…
Exactly.

Yes, I did the math in my head before I bought this pasta. In fact, they had crawfish on sale for $.99 a pound, and lobster on sale for about $15 a pound at the same store. I just didn't want to carry home any live lobsters, so I got the pasta instead.

I wouldn't have bought it at all for that price, except that I have been looking for this type of white rice pasta ever since I got back from Italy over a year ago. I'm truly expecting it to be the best gluten-free pasta available, so I'm thinking of it as a specialty purchase for a very nice meal.

I also bought some jamon serrano for $28 per pound. It's amazing! However, I bought most of the ingredients for a Spanish Paella, including chorizo, mussels, clams, and crayfish for less money than I spent on the ham and pasta. They got me, I'll admit it. And, I'm happy about it.
August 1, 2009 at 10:19 AM
Rebecca said…
Check it out! I found this pasta for $6 on Amazon! Have you tried it?
August 1, 2009 at 2:00 PM
Amy Green (Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free) said…
I saw an imported brand which was about a box, which was a little too steep for me. But that's only because I am not a big pasta fan. I have no problem spending money on good food.

It might be the same brand - I'm going to look next time I'm at the store.
August 1, 2009 at 8:25 PM
Gina said…
Rebecca -

I have not tried that pasta! It's unclear if it's a brown or white-rice pasta. I really prefer white rice pasta for the texture (brown rice pasta often has the texture of whole wheat pasta).
August 2, 2009 at 2:09 PM
Cheryl - Somewhat Crunchy said…
LOL, I love the comments to this post :) Gold? LOL
August 3, 2009 at 6:59 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gluten-free Sourdough Discard Bread

Image
You’ve made your gluten free sourdough starter . What now?   The discard, or unused portion of the starter can be repurposed in a number of ways.  It’s the part of the starter that you don’t need to refresh or to use to leaven bread. You can throw it out, or you can use it to replace some of the flour and water in other recipes.  It adds a great texture and flavor to recipes, and it’s particularly useful for gluten free recipes. There’s something about gf grains that benefits immensely from the fermentation process. They become more flexible, more workable, and much tastier. In this bread recipe the sourdough starter lends the bread strength, flexibility, and flavor. Want a sandwich loaf recipe? Check out my  Yeasted Sourdough Sandwich Bread . Why is it not a regular sourdough bread?  This bread is considered a discard bread, or sometimes called a hybrid loaf, because it contains sourdough but it's leavened with commercial yeast. What does it taste like?   ...
Read more

Quick Yeasted Sourdough Sandwich Loaf Recipe

Image
Readers have been asking if they can bake the Gluten-free Sourdough Discard Bread in a bread tin.  The answer seems to be yes, it usually works.  However, I've created this new recipe that is more of a sandwich style loaf.  This recipe is a single rise recipe, so it's quick and easy. Need to create a sourdough starter? This is the method I use most:  https://glutenfreegourmand.blogspot.com/2021/10/sourdough-starter-ready-to-use-in-3-7.html Why yeasted sourdough?  Sometimes it's tricky to get a great rise out of sourdough when you're first starting out.  Also, creating a new sourdough starter creates a bit of discard that can be used up in other recipes to improve the flavor and texture of the product. This recipe adds a little baker's yeast to help the rise and get the loaf in the oven more quickly.  This is a sourdough discard recipe but you can use active starter if that's what you have.  Yeasted Sourdough Sandwich Loaf Recipe Dairy-free, c ont...
Read more

Mild Country White Sourdough Bread

Image
I gave up on producing a showy loaf a long time ago.  I always rolled my eyes a little when I saw photos online of perfect bloom or wide-open crumb.  "The mustard is going to just fall right through," I would think to my self disapprovingly, shaking my head a little. It turns out, I was just jealous. After a decade of gluten-free bread baking and recipe development, and through a collaboration with some other bakers, I've come up with a gf sourdough bread recipe that produces an open crumb, a large bloom, and sometimes, if I'm lucky, an ear.   The bread has a very mild, pleasant sourdough flavor and is very light in color. The crumb is very open but not too delicate.  It has a chewiness to the texture that I associate with a good sourdough bread.  The crust gets a nice browning and it toasts up nicely. And I don't mind the mustard falling through as much as I thought I would. Many thanks to Michael Hollesen who came up with the original version of this reci...
Read more