Pasta Bulks Up

Reprinted from The San Francisco Chronicle’s website SFGate.com

Wheat pasta is an important part of many cuisines. Unfortunately, many people aren't able to enjoy that diversity of pasta dishes because of dietary restrictions including allergies, no wheat/no-gluten (celiac disease) and low-carbohydrate diets.

Others simply want organic pasta, higher fiber content or more whole grains in their foods. Traditional semolina pasta alternatives include those made from rice flour, kamut, buckwheat, quinoa, corn flour, tofu and shirataki (also known as yam noodle).

The Food section has discovered several pastas that attempt to fill the void. Our favorites:

The unanimous staff choice is Dreamfields Pasta, which has a very similar taste and texture to semolina pasta, and is available in a wide variety of shapes including penne rigate and linguine. This new product was developed to help manage blood glucose; now diabetics can have their pasta Bolognese. Dreamfields contains more than twice the fiber (5 grams) of regular pasta and has a very low glycemic index of 13 (with 5 grams of digestible carbs) versus standard, which ranges from 30-45. The magic ingredient is inulin, a prebiotic natural fiber. About $2.59-$3.99 (16 ounces) at many Bay Area markets including Safeway and Albertsons.

Golden Grains Whole Grain pasta which used to be marketed as "multigrain," is blended from three whole grains (wheat, brown rice and oats) instead of the more usual 100 percent wheat.

Some staff members describe it as "nutty," with a subtle cereal-like flavor - a quality some people enjoyed more than others. Golden Grains has 48 grams of whole grains in one 2-ounce serving, which is 5 grams of dietary fiber - 20 percent of the recommended daily requirement. $1.99 (12 ounces) at many Bay Area markets including Andronico's and Draeger's.