Pasta Taste Test

As part of a recent cooking demo, I decided I would do a taste test of of the so-called ‘better for you pastas’. Now in all honesty, I do not believe that pasta, or carbohydrates in general, is what is making Americans fat, so it is hard for me to sit around and berate pasta as the end-all enemy. However, people do eat far to much pasta far to often and so one can speculate that they are consuming a huge number of calories which aren’t nutrient dense, and that this is where the problem truly lies. Never fear Americans, our savvy Capitalist companies have found the answer with value added pastas. Now of course it depends on what you are looking for; high fiber, high protein, high vitamins, whole wheat taste, whole wheat without the whole taste - the options seem endless, so we put 3 different kinds to the test: Barilla Plus, Ronzoni Smart Taste, Barilla White Fiber. Experiment Disclaimer: I bought each brand in a different shape so it was easy for me to identify what was being taste tested – there may be people in the tasting pool who are discriminatory towards certain shapes.

About 3/5 of the audience liked the Barilla Plus (yellow box) the best. They commented that it had a nice texture and wasn’t overly ‘wheaty’ or ‘grainy’ but that it did have a slightly different taste from regular pasta which wouldn’t compromise the taste of sauces.

The rest of the audience liked the Ronzoni Smart Taste (which is my favorite of the 3 as well). It is the same color and texture as regular pasta, though it can be overcooked more easily then regular pasta can be. The people who did not like the Smart Taste, said that it was to soft, thus they must be true aldente pasta lovers!

No one (except 1 staff member) liked the Barilla White Fiber. They found to soft, mushy, and without texture. The White Fiber is the newest of the three products and it definitely has some tweaking to go before it becomes a consumer favorite. It easily breaks down in the pot and in your mouth, probably because the added fiber makes the shape of the pasta very delicate once it has started absorbing water, and the nature of granulated fiber (think Metamucil) is to absorb water and dissolve - not something that is super sexy for pasta.

What’s the moral of my story? If you are going to eat pasta less then 1x/week and not a lot of it, just buy the regular/real stuff. If you are concerned that you will go overkill with your portions, buy the fresh pasta, it is a little denser and people tend to eat a smaller portion of it because it sits heavier in the stomach.

Happy Cheesing!

Baked Brie

This is always a crowd pleaser at parties/gatherings, and it makes you look like a fantastic cook, but baked brie is super simple and will take you 5 minutes to put together and about 15 minutes to bake.

*1 wheel (or wedge depending on how many people you will be serving) French Brie (I actually buy mine at Costco – GASP – because the local grocery only usually has Presidente, but you might be able to find a high quality triple cream brie in your local grocery or cheese shop.
*Phyllo dough – about 6-8 sheets
*Jam – I prefer Rosepetal, Apricot or Lingonberry but raspberry or spiced pear would be wonderful as well
*Butter – 1 tablespoon, melted

1. Thaw the roll of phyllo dough (while still wrapped or it will dry out). When soft, open packaging and unroll the whole thing.
2. Place large spoonful of jam down on the dough and spread around until roughly the size in diameter of the cheese.
3. Unwrap cheese and carefully shave off the rind on the sides and top. If you don’t get it all that is ok, it does not taste bad
4. Place cheese down on dough, shaved side to jam. Then take up about 6-8 sheets of the dough and wrap them over the bottom of the brie like you were wrapping a present. I usually roll the rest of the dough back up, place in ice box and use within a week for something else.
5. Flip brie over and place jam side up in baking dish. Pour melted butter over the top and bake in oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, once the top starts to brown your brie is finished!

Serve with cracker, pear and apple slices.

Enjoy!

White Bean and Cauliflower Alfredo

We made this recipe at support group the other night and put it over spaghetti squash - BIG HIT! So I thought I would share it for all those who could not make it that night. Thanks to Paul for the demo (I did soup-up your recipe a bit, hehe)!

1 sweet onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, copped
1 15oz can cannellini beans
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup skim milk
1 cup cauliflower florets
½ cup marscapone cheese
Salt and pepper as needed

1. Put on a small pot of water at high heat until water reaches a boil, add cauliflower and cook until very tender
2. Heat olive oil in sauté pan, add onion and garlic and cook until translucent.
3. While onions are cooking, strain and rinse beans. When onions are cooked add beans to pan for 2-3 minutes to heat.
4. Remove cauliflower from water and place in blender. Add onion and beans. Pulse the blades a few times, then add milk and blend until smooth. Then add marscapone and blend until incorporated. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Spoon over pasta or spaghetti squash

ENJOY!!