When you first experience any coeliac disease symptoms, you might not realise the changes to your lifestyle that you’ll have to implement in the near future. Moving to a gluten free diet will require you to be very careful about what you eat, and one of the main things that people ask about when they are changing to a gluten free lifestyle is whether pasta is gluten free.
Is pasta gluten free?
Pasta is a simple food staple. It is traditionally made from wheat flour, egg, olive oil, and salt. The mixture is rolled out and cut into shapes, of which there are many wide and varied types to choose from, and sometimes these are cut from a specialist machine.
Gluten-free pasta can also be made from grains or legumes, including rice, corn, beans, quinoa, or high quality gluten-free flour blends. There are some delicious gluten-free pasta options on the market today, and will stand up to great flavours within a wide variety of recipes.
Different types of gluten-free pasta
There are a few different ways you can go with gluten-free pasta, whether you are making it at home or buying it from the supermarketIt is at this stage where you are recently diagnosed as coeliac that you can try out a few different types of gluten-free pasta and see what you like the most. You can also try out making your own gluten-free pasta.
- Rice pasta – this type of pasta can be made with either white or brown rice. We would recommend brown rice as it is a bit more robust, absorbs flavours well, and is easier to spice. Rice pasta is easy to cook with, due to its flavour absorption properties and has greater nutrient density than white rice.
- Corn pasta– a pasta with a mild flavour, corn pasta it is perfect when you are cooking withlighter sauces, and it has a similar texture to what you would expect from pasta made with flour. It can break apart quite easily when boiling so we would recommend using corn pasta made into smaller shapes such as shells.
- Quinoa pasta – a sturdy texture and a full flavour, quinoa pasta is a complete protein, making it a super food that makes a great gluten-free pasta. The healthiest of all gluten-free pasta, it is a favourite that comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes and is great for a baked pasta dish.
- Blended gluten-free flour – utilising various blends of flour and starches, there are loads of blended gluten-free flour options on the market, with different protein and fibre content. It holds up very well within many different recipes, much like traditional pasta.
- Bean pasta – bringing together the best of both worlds, a comforting home cooked meal, high in healthy proteins and fibres, bean pasta often comes in non-traditional colours, meaning you can match up some purple spaghetti with your ragu.
Incorporating gluten free pasta into your new diet is a game changer. It helps you to realise that even though you can’t have the same pasta you might have always eaten and loved, that there are still options out there for you, and delicious options at that. With gluten free prescription services offering gluten-free pasta on prescription in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, there is also a way for you to have a taste and a glimpse into this new world, before venturing out and trying different types of gluten free pasta, and maybe making your own if you are feeling adventurous.
https://www.coeliac.org.uk/information-and-support/living-gluten-free/the-gluten-free-diet/
https://time.com/4906359/healthy-pasta-noodles/
https://helloveggie.co/gluten-free-pasta-guide/
https://www.bhg.com/recipes/how-to/cooking-basics/gluten-free-pasta/