As you all know I occasionally get sent products to try.  I was recently contacted and asked if I would like to try some of  the Garofalo range of gluten free pastas.  New to the UK since last autumn it is made with a combination of corn, quinoa and rice.  I'm not normally a fan of quinoa, but I figured that it wouldn't really matter if it was in a pasta and not served as a grain on it's own.



I was sent a package of Penne Rigate and a package of  Casarecce.  (Don't ask me to pronounce that last one!)  As you can see from the package they looked just like regular pasta.

From their page:

Can a producer of ‘normal pasta’, using a raw material containing the best gluten, produce an excellent gluten free pasta? The answer is in our philosophy and focus on the product: Good taste is a right. 

We set our selves the objectives of creating a product with the knowledge that Garofalo pasta is synonymous with the experience of taste. We knew that the flavour could not be the same due to the different raw materials, but it was of great importance to us to produce a Garofalo pasta that was no better or worse in flavour, just different. It was not to be just for those on a gluten free diet but a new cooking opportunity for everyone. It was equally important to produce a healthy product, which in the end might even be better than normal pasta. 

We have worked extensively on this line, which is not produced in our factory because of the risk of contamination with our pasta containing wheat, and remain in control at all levels from the raw materials to the production methods. The results are a product that is extremely good, especially when compared to the gluten free products currently on the market, but we are confident we can improve it even more. The phrase “it’s good considering it’s gluten-free” is not enough, we believe the pasta can reach the levels of pasta made with durum wheat semolina.  

I decided to cook and present what I was sent in two different ways so that I could see how it performed.  The first was to cook it and make a type of macaroni and cheese with it.  I used the Penne for this as it was the most suitable.



Here it is cooked and draining.  As you can see it looks like any other type of pasta which has been cooked. I had in mind to do a macaroni and cheese type of casserole with this, adding broccoli for extra colour, fiber and taste.    

  

I folded both into a delicious cheese sauce and then poured them into a casserole dish, topped the casserole with more cheese and then baked it until it was golden brown. 



You would be hard pressed to tell this pasta from any other kind of pasta.  It looked completely normal.

  

It tasted completely normal as well, although I did find it to be a bit chewier in consistency, but this is something which could be handled well by simply cooking it for a bit longer, and of course texture is all a matter of taste.   Some people like their pasta a little firmer and on the al dente side.  I do sometimes and I don't at others.  With a mac and cheese type of dish I would have liked it to be a bit softer. 



Other than that there was no discernible different, truly.  This was fabulous.  I thought the pasta tasted nice, just like any other pasta and had I not known it was gluten free I would not have been able to tell.   I gavew it a 10 out of 10 for taste, and performance.  Well done to the Garofalo people.

   

Bake in the heated oven for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.  Serve hot.   


 

For the Casarecce I decided that I would make a sauce that it could be stirred into.  Something which would cling to all those folds and get into those crevices.

 

A simple sauce of tinned tomatoes, herbs, and pasta sauce, with onions, garlic and two cheeses to make it creamy.  Nicely flavoured. 



A sauce it could just be stirred into and not cooked in.

  

Once again it performed really well.  Other than the fact that once again it was a bit chewier than I normally like, you would not have been able to discern any difference between this and the regular pasta, which again could be easily remedied by cooking the pasta in it's initial cooking for a tiny bit longer, and also is a matter of preference and taste.  It tasted great and the sauce worked well with it. I gave it a ten out of ten as well. 



Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.   Add the onion and saute to soften without browning.  Once softened add the garlic,  Cook for one minute until very fragrant.   Add the tomatoes and bring to the boil.  Cook for a couple minutes, then stir in the pasta sauce, herbs and salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer for about 10 minutes, then whisk in the cheeses and allow them to melt.  Stir in the pasta and heat through.  Serve hot with more Parmesan for sprinkling at the table.   

 


Altogether I was very happy with both pastas.  I don't have a problem with wheat but we have friends with a son who does and it's nice to know that there are more and more products out there that are available for people with a gluten intolerance.

Giving up gluten without compromising flavour or texture is the premise behind the Garofalo lines of pasta products.  With a wide range of types and high attention to production and product performance Italy's most popular pasta makers have come up with a real winner here. 

The Garofalo lines of gluten free pastas are available online via Ocado and Nifeislife.

Many thanks to the people at Garofalo for sending me these pastas to try out!

 


Right about the time this gets posted today, the Toddster and I will be heading on down to Sommerset to the Yeo Valley Farm for a day which we hope will be informative and fun.  So . . . I'm not really here at the moment.  I'm probably somewhere in the middle of the UK on a train in transit.

One of my favourite things about blogging is having the opportunity to try out new things.  I was recently sent some gluten free products from Orgran to try.  I was quite excited to do this.   We have some friends with a son who is gluten intolerant and I know how much they struggle in trying to conform to his diet.  It's not been very easy for them.

Orgran is known to be a Pioneer in the Gluten Free Industry, offering products that are not only gluten free, but also healthy and nutritional.  Not only are their products gluten free, but they are also wheat free, dairy free, GMO free, egg free, yeast free and vegan.

I was sent a package of their Buckwheat Pasta Spirals to trial and a package of their Buckwheat Pancake Mix.

I have to say upfront, I don't like buckwheat pancakes.  At least not the kind that used to come in the Aunt Jemima packet back home.  It had a funny flavour, which I wasn't all that fond of and I was a bit skeptical when it came to these things, but I was willing to give it a go.

My sister is very pro-raw-healthy-gluten-sugar-GMO-etc free.  She made me some buckwheat grawnola clusters when I was home in April and I loved them.  I loved them so much that when I came home to the UK I sourced and found myself a bag of buckwheat to sprout.   (Haven't done it yet sis, but it's in the planning stages!!)

I love pasta as you know and so the first thing I tried was the pasta.  I developed a tasty sauce to have with it.  This sauce would be tasty on any kind of pasta and I am happy to say that it tasted really good on the buckwheat pasta.

The pasta cooked up nicely, was perfectly al dente in the time on the package directions,  and other than it being a tiny bit darker than normal pasta, it pretty much tasted the same as any pasta.  In fact if you didn't know it was made from buckwheat you could never know the difference.  It was really good.

 

Ottolenghi is probably one of the best and dynamic places to eat in this country.  When I worked down South the daughter often came down from London for the weekend with friends 

For the past several days we've had an Italian cooking in my Kitchen, so today I thought I would run with the European Theme,  and show you something that is quite typically French. The French and English share a somewhat tenuous love/hate relationship I think . . . we've come to love their cafe culture and flock over the channel in hordes to partake of their lovely foods and cheeses . . . and yet at the same time . . . we're not quite ready to embrace them as a people . . . nor are they ready to embrace us I don't think.  I think perhaps they will always see us a little bit as intruders . . . and more than a little bit crazy.

 

They think we work too hard . . . we eat too fast . . . we don't know how to relax .  .  .  our cheeses are boring (NOT) and the only thing we know how to cook properly  is Roast Beef.  We think they have a tendency to be a bit laisser faire about life . . . they take too long to eat . . . they eat far too much garlic, and they are missing cheddar in their cheese shops (only the best cheese in the world, lol) . . . not to mention, they eat some pretty strange things like escargots and frogs legs . . .  oh, and all  the men have mistresses . . .
(Note . . . these are only random generalizations . . . and not the way I really think.  I am merely taking a fun poke at things.  My father is French.)

 

In reality, I love French food and patisserie . . . I always have done . . . especially the rustic country fare . . . and who does bread better than the French???   I don't think anyone can beat their bread . . . the first thing I do when we go across to Calais on the Ferry is to indulge in a fresh Almond Croissant . . . and don't get me started on their Macarons . . . I just adore them.  I could quite happily spend a week in a French Patisserie, indulging all of my whims and pastry fantasies.

 

This cake here today is a recipe which I gleaned from one of my favourite cookery books "Under the Walnut Tree, great recipes from our kitchen" by mother and daughter,  Anna and Fanny Bergenstrom.  No, they are not French.  They're Swedish, but their cooking is a happy mix of all things European, including this lovely cake, entitled "Granny's French Pear and Almond Cake."

 

It's a lovely cake, gluten free . . . loaded with beautiful ripe pears . . . ground almonds  . . . and I added a touch of ground cardamom as pears and cardamom are such a quintessentially beautiful partnership and marriage of flavours.

 

The end result is a cake that is a beautiful light . . .  almost ethereal . . . creation.  Simple and yet divine.  Feel free to make this in individual dishes if you wish.  That would be so sweet upon the table I think . . . for today though, I just baked it in one 8 by 10 porcelain baking dish . . . and it looked every bit as lovely as it tasted.

 

Enjoy.



*French Pear, Almond and Cardamom Cake*
Serves 4 to 5
Printable Recipe

A light cake, stogged full of lovely sweet pears, ground almonds and just the merest hint of cardamom, which goes so very well with the pear.  Serve warm with some pouring cream.  If I am not mistaken this is also gluten free.

100g of ground almonds (19 TBS)
2 TBS butter, softened for buttering the dish
4 large firm, ripe pears
100g of butter, at room temperature (7 TBS)
100g of golden caster sugar (8 1/2 TBS)
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
pinch salt
2 medium free range eggs
2 TBS fresh lemon juice
icing sugar to dust
pouring cream or vanilla ice cream to serve

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.  Butter an oven proof dish with the soft butter.

Peel your pears, core them and then cut them into thick wedges.  Arrange the wedges in the prepared baking dish and then pop them into the heated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, while you mix together the batter.

Cream together the butter and caster sugar until light.  Stir in the ground almonds, cardamom and salt.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Stir in the lemon juice until the mixture is smooth and combined.  Remove the baking dish from the oven and spread the almond batter over top of the pear wedges.

Return to the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes. 

Dust the warm cake with some icing sugar and serve either  on it's own, or with some pouring cream or vanilla bean ice cream.