WHOLEMEAL PASTA

Wholemeal spiral pasta, fusilli

Wholemeal, wholewheat, wholegrain or pasta integrale, call it what you like, this trusty staple has stood the test of time. It’s worth keeping in your pantry as a reliable and inspiring ingredient to make healthy, delicious meals.

While wholemeal pasta may not be traditional, it certainly wins in the nutrition stakes and new production techniques are creating products with great taste and texture, helping to increase its appeal. It has all the goodness of the whole wheat grain (extra fibre and B-vitamins), and a low glycemic index (GI)- or medium, depending on the brand. Wholemeal pasta has a good satiety index as well. Its Satiety Index is 188% compared to white bread, which is ranked as 100%. This means eating wholemeal pasta helps fill you up and feel satisfied.

Wholemeal pasta is generally darker in colour with subtle toasty notes and can have a slightly denser, coarser texture. For family members who aren’t fully on board the wholemeal pasta train, you could try the duo-colour combo of half regular, half wholemeal. Once it’s coated in sauce, they’ll hardly notice. But, like I said, there are some great wholemeal pasta products now available that are streets ahead of the early versions, so it’s been a while since you tried it, give wholemeal pasta another chance.

Pasta is made from hard durum wheat that has a higher protein (gluten) content that gives it the characteristic chewy texture the Italians call al dente (on the tooth). While the Italians have taken pasta as their own, it wasn’t always. The earliest record of noodle-like food was made of millet and found in 4000-year-old pots in ancient China. The ancient Greeks and Romans consumed laganum, which was a bit like lasagna. The Arabs brought dried, shaped pasta called itriyya to Sicily in the 9th century and the rest, as they say, is history. By the 13th century pasta was a staple in Southern Italy and then became popularized during the Italian Renaissance of the 15-16th century. The tomato-based sauce came to Europe after the Spanish conquest of the Americas. Italian immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries shared pasta with the Americas and beyond. It is now a beloved food worldwide including in Australia where spaghetti Bolognese- ‘spag Bol’ – is almost a national dish.

Cook wholemeal pasta in rapidly boiling salted water according to the packet instructions. Taste test to ensure it doesn’t overcook. Pair your wholemeal pasta with a delicious sauce, ideally tomato based. Rich creamy sauces like carbonara or Alfredo are special occasion treats. Serve a generous salad on the side dressed with extra virgin olive oil (and perhaps a small glass of red wine) and you can enjoy Italy on a plate. The variety of sauces to have with pasta is amazing, and you get bonus health benefits if you include vegetables or legumes. I always add some finely chopped capsicum (pepper), carrots, mushrooms and red lentils to my ‘spag Bol’ sauce, and use less meat. And don’t forget you can health-ify family favourites like pasta-bake using wholemeal pasta, and even break up wholemeal spaghetti for noodles in soup.

And the great thing about wholemeal pasta is you can serve it cold in a pasta salad. It keeps its shape well and it’s a salad that really satisfies. Mix in whatever you have on hand, such as cherry tomatoes, zucchini (courgette), olives, parsley, canned tuna or white beans, and dress with a simple vinaigrette. Or perhaps basil pesto and some cooked chicken. It’s a great workday lunch. Have fun experimenting with flavours and ingredients and use up what you have in the fridge for an economical and sustainable waste-free kitchen.