Q: I have been told for health reasons to move away from plain flour and eat things made of whole wheat. I'd like to know more about whole-wheat pasta. Do you cook it any differently than regular pasta? Are some whole-wheat pastas better than others? I would really appreciate it if you could send me some easy recipes using whole-wheat pasta. Thanks.
- Trudy W.
A: Trudy, we must hang out with the same crowd, since I have also been steered down the whole-wheat path for health reasons.
The good news is that whole-wheat pasta works really well in a lot of recipes, and in many cases I like it even better than regular pasta. Whole-wheat pasta, like all whole-wheat products, is not as processed as the kind made with white flour. Because of that it contains much more of the natural nutrition found in the grain.
Also, the harder the grain, the further it travels down our little tummies (OK, in my case it's a big tummy), and the carbs don't have as much time to turn into sugar. All of this is on the plus side of the health ledger.
You've probably heard some people say they don't like whole-wheat pasta because it has a strong flavor. True, but these are probably the same people who tell you they don't like salmon because it has a fishy flavor. Guess what, sports fans: It's fish. And with whole-wheat pasta, you get the more intense flavor of - wheat. Since whole-wheat pasta has a stronger flavor, you know what we're going to do? (Drum roll, please.) We're going to use it with more robustly flavored sauces. I know, it's a stroke of genius.
As to your other questions, I don't have a favorite brand of whole-wheat pasta among the many brands on the market these days.
I hope you will try a lot of different ones and let me know which you like best. And I'm not trying to be funny when I tell you the best way to cook whole-wheat pasta is according to package directions. Sometimes the simple answer really is the right one. Just make sure you use a large enough pot with lots of water. On the whole (no pun intended), whole-wheat pasta takes a little longer to cook.
By the way, for recipes that require a milder sauce treatment, I have found a traditional "durum semolina" pasta (not whole-wheat) that not only tastes good, it has a 65 percent lower glycemic index than regular pasta and only 5 grams of digestible carbs per serving (all of which I have to watch in my diet).
