Unlike pretty much other product I’ve reviewed so far, Orgran pasta is available world wide.
Orgran is based in Australia, where they have a purpose built gluten free facility. The majority of their products (possibly all of them) are gluten free, wheat free, dairy free, egg free, yeast free, soy free, nut free and vegan. That’s a long list, and you might wonder how they make products at all, let alone palatable ones. But no need to worry. Orgran products, at least the ones I’ve tried, are excellent, and put many other manufacturers’ efforts to shame.
Pictured are the vegetable rice pasta spirals and also lasagne. I’ve tried other Orgran pasta products, but these are the ones I have in the cupboard. Unfortunately, my local Tesco used to carry 2 or 3 varieties, but there’s now only one. They also stock their own brand, but I leave that alone, having had bad experiences in the past with low quality gluten free pasta (not that I’m saying Tesco’s is low quality, but it isn’t worth the risk at the price of gluten free products). If I want a larger selection I get mine from Naturally Good Food Ltd, who have an enormous range of Orgran and other gluten free products (and lots of other healthy selections).
If you’re interested in the Orgran pasta range, the list includes buckwheat spirals (great), corn and spinach rigati, corn and veg shells, corn spirals, fancy curls, garlic parsley and rice shells (yummy), Italian style rigati, Italian style shells, Italian style spaghetti (very nice), multigrain penne with quinoa, multigrain spirals with amaranth, rice and corn risoni (pilaf), rice and corn lasagne (great), rice and corn macaroni, rice and corn penne, rice and corn shells garden herb and spinach, rice and corn spirals, rice and corn tortelli, rice and corn veg animal shapes, rice and corn veg corkscrews, rice and corn vegetable spirals, rice and millet spirals, rice spirals, slim spirals, smooth penne (lovely), spaghetti noodles, tomato and basil corn spirals, vegetable rice penne and vegetable rice spirals (my staple). There’s also large and small tinned spaghetti, and a couple of vegetarian pasta ready meals.
That is a huge range, and I have to say I’ve only tried a few of them. But every type I’ve tried has been really good – much nicer than some brands I’ve tried. They are good enough that they can even be served al burro as they say in Italy – with just some butter, black pepper and a very little grated parmesan if you like. It also goes great with pesto – fabulous, or with any tomato-based or other pasta sauce you may wish.
The Italian style spaghetti is very nice, but slightly thinner than I’m used to. You can cook it al dente but it is difficult to eat it in the traditional way with a fork, as it tends to break. Still, it tastes fine, so who’s complaining?
The garlic parsley and rice shells are very tasty, I do like them, I just can’t think of a real use for them. Adding a sauce would drown the taste, and they just don’t seem right served al burro, but maybe that’s just me.
Most are really easy to cook, just throw them in some salted boiling water and cook for 10 minutes, drain and serve. The lasagne can also be cooked in water before layering up, and this is what it says on the pack, but I have had very successful results without doing this. I just made the meat sauce very sloppy, and the cheese sauce a little thinner than usual. The result was just great – and since I generally get in a dreadful mess trying to cook the stuff beforehand, that is the way I will continue to do it.
So far as price goes, well you just aren’t going to get gluten free pasta at the same price as the regular stuff – I’ve seen penne priced as low as 25p a huge packet – but Orgran isn’t in the “ye gods, how can I afford that?” bracket either. For the quality, I think it’s reasonably priced, given that it must be really difficult to make decent gluten free pasta – or if not, why are so many pasta products by other manufacturers so very nasty? I can get a bag of 250g vegetable rice spirals for around £1.89, and it usually does me for 2 meals. The others are similarly priced around the £2 mark, though the lasagne is £2.84 for 200g – and worth it.
If you’re looking for gluten free pasta, and you’re pretty fussy, like me, Orgran is the brand to go for. Recommended.
