Like the penne, the fusilli cooks exactly like regular pasta and the fat spirals keep their shape perfectly. Absolutely delicious served with a homemade tomato sauce, and a quick and healthy supper that can be rustled up in minutes.

Chickpea fusilli dish

As it’s fresh pasta, just stick the rest of the bag in the freezer once you’re done.

Dell’Ugo gluten free chickpea fusilli is available to buy in Asda and Waitrose from £1.78 per 300g bag.

Find out more on the Dell’Ugo website. Or follow them on Twitter or Instagram.

Dell’Ugo Gluten Free Chickpea Fusilli

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Rizopia Gluten Free Pasta made with Brown Rice

Now I don’t know about you but I always get nervous around brown gluten free pasta. It looks like that stuff in the old days that used to disintegrate into something resembling wallpaper paste the moment it got a sniff of a boiling pan of water.

Well, forget all that. Rizopia gluten free pasta made from organic brown rice and water cooks like a dream. Exactly like the ‘real thing’ in fact. And it feels substantial. So even if you have a small amount there’s a ‘meatiness’ to it that’s filling. Even better, it has a wonderful flavour. Almost nutty. No wonder it’s an award-winner at the Fresh From Food Awards. And as well as being gluten and wheat free it’s egg, milk, corn and nut free too.

What’s in the Rizopia gluten free pasta range?
We tried the fettuccini and the penne. But you can also enjoy lasagne, spaghetti, elbows and fantasia (for kids!). And it’s available online via Amazon, Ocado and in independent retailers. And get this. You can also get Rizopia on prescription. Visit the Rizopia site to get PIP-codes for the products.

To find our more about Rizopia gluten free pasta visit their website or their presence on either Facebook or Twitter.

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Dell’Ugo Gluten Free Penne Pasta

Dell’Ugo is the UK’s largest fresh pasta brand and has been making pasta since 1929. But did you know they do an amazing gluten free range too?

So how did their gluten free range come about? Turns out, Kate, the wife of Dell’Ugo owner Paul Ugo is wheat sensitive, and he wanted them enjoy pasta meals together again. Awww. Well hooray for Paul. Because the Dell’Ugo’s gluten free penne pasta has been designed to mimic the taste, texture and consistency of a regular gluten pasta. So it’s almost impossible to tell the difference between the two. And it only contains high quality maize and rice too. Which means it’s really flavoursome.

Add some pesto, olives and cherry tomatoes and you’ve got a quick and tasty dinner.

It’s fresh pasta, so keep it in the fridge once you’re done. Or put it in the freezer and cool from frozen next time. It freezes perfectly and tastes exactly the same.

Dell’Ugo gluten free penne pasta is available to buy in Asda and Waitrose from £1.78 per 300g bag. Look out for their gluten free chickpea fusilli too. It was an innovation award winner at the Free From Food Awards last year.

Find out more on the Dell’Ugo website. Or on Twitter (@dell_ugo) or Facebook (DellUgoPasta).

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Our Free From Italy hamper

Just before Christmas, our friends at Free From Italy sent us a gorgeous hamper, which we’ve been gradually working our way through in the last couple of months.

Free From Italy is committed to sourcing the best gluten free Italian products and making them available to a UK market. And when it comes to pasta, who better to trust to get it right than the Italians?

I’ve been a diagnosed coeliac since 1992. Back then gluten free pasta was really hit and miss. It was either hard and undercooked. Or soggy like wallpaper paste and completely tasteless.

These days gluten free pasta is much improved. And it doesn’t come better than award-winning La Buona Vita pasta, which is made with corn and rice varieties that have been grown especially for the brand. It’s what gives the pasta its light golden yellow colour and the clean taste you would expect from normal pasta. It cooks exactly like normal pasta too, so there’s none of that gloopy gloopiness you get with some GF pastas. All La Buona Vita pasta is free from gluten, wheat, eggs, dairy and soya and non GMO.

La Buona Vita gluten free pasta

We tried the spaghetti and fusilli and the way it cooks and the way it tastes was superb. Even the gluten eating other half thought it was the best spaghetti he’d eaten.

We also tried the pesto sauce and pasta sauce from Le Conserve della Nonna which are dairy, nut, soy and egg free, and organic. The arrabiata sauce had a delicious, fresh taste. But it was the pesto sauce that was the stand out for me. Made with fresh basil and pine nuts this is probably the best pesto I’ve tasted. Which is probably why we finished the jar this week. Boo.

Le Conserve della Nonna pesto with gluten free pasta

So where can you buy the authentic taste of Italy? La Buona Vita pasta is available from Ocado, Amazon and good health food stores retailing at £2.00 per pack.

Le Conserve della Nonna pesto sauce is available at Asda and good health food stores for £2.00 a jar. And the arrabiata sauce is available in good health stores for £2.00 a jar.

As for the gluten free Bob the Builder pasta. That was tested on a fussy three year old. And the verdict? Amaaaaazing!

A jar of Le Conserve della Nonna green pesto

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Freidman’s pastrami sandwich and sweet potato fries

Friends of GFB, Wendy and Paul, recently made their annual pilgrimage to the amazing city of New York and Wendy, being gluten intolerant, was kind enough to write some notes about the places she visited that were GF friendly.

Freidman’s Lunch

A great café inside the foodie Chelsea Market. Many items on the menu can be adapted to be gluten free. I had a yummy pastrami sandwich and sweet potato fries. The bread they use was much tastier than anything I’ve had in the UK.

They also do bagels for breakfast/brunch but only at the weekend. And they stock a bottled gluten free beer called Redbridge which was really good.

Very reasonably priced.

S’MAC (short for Sarita’s Macaroni & Cheese)

Great little place in the East Village serving only mac ‘n’ cheese – they position themselves as “New York’s best Macaroni & Cheese” on their website.

All dishes are ‘build your own’ where you choose your own cheese combinations and additional ingredients and can all be made with gluten free pasta. I had a ‘nosh’ size (the smallest size) though I wished I’d had the ‘major munch’ as it was so good! Only negative was that on their website they say they offer a vegan/non dairy cheese option but they didn’t have this on the day we visisted – (I shouldn’t really have dairy but did).

A filling and tasty cheap lunch.

Bar Breton, 250 5th Ave, New York

Bar Breton
UPDATE: Apparently closed now unfortunately
A smart but cosy French restaurant open for lunch and dinner on 5^th Avenue not far from the Empire State Building which specialises in traditional Brittany buckwheat galettes.

Absolutely delicious and they also have a dedicated gluten free fryer for their herb fries! We had a salmon galette with horseradish cream and also a Gruyère and Black Forest ham. Traditional Breton cider to drink served in a teacup!

Reasonably priced for the great quality.

Babycakes NYC, 248 Broome Street, New York

Babycakes NYC

Oh my God! Heaven on earth! Cute bakery on the Lower East Side selling the most delicious breads, cookies and cupcakes and all made with healthy ingredients. They don’t use eggs or dairy instead using healthy coconut oil and only use agave nectar, never sugar.

Almost all of their cakes are gluten free with the exception of a few which are made using spelt – though the cabinets are all clearly labeled and the staff always ask about intolerances when serving.

I had carrot cupcake and pumpkin bread (as it was Halloween) – really amazing and deliciously moist with the subtle taste of coconut. We need one of these in London!

Babycakes NYC cupcakes

I also bought the Babycakes book (Babycakes: Vegan, (Mostly) Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes from New York’s Most Talked-about Bakery) by founder Erin McKenna so will be testing out my baking skills over the coming weeks – I just need to source some of the ingredients online first which are not as easy to find in the UK – they have great online suppliers in the US.

Other places we ate were all very helpful by adapting dishes to exclude specific ingredients to ensure that they were gluten free.

It sounds like Wendy and Paul had a fantastic time in New York and we thank them for taking the time to send us their experiences.

Get yourselves over there to try out some of these places. It’s getting cheaper and cheaper for us in the UK to visit the States. And of course, let us know if you discover or know of any other great places in New York.

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Wheat free pasta is made from rice, corn, potato and vegetables. (Or more often than not a mix.)

Rice pastas
Orgran do a range of rice and rice/mix pastas including stoneground buckwheat and rice pasta; vegetable rice pasta; and a plain rice pasta. When you’re cooking, you need to keep an eye on the rice and rice/mix pastas otherwise they do have a tendency to go a bit gloopy. And they need a thorough rinse once they’re cooked.

Doves Farm do a number of rice based gluten free pastas that are organic and are really nutty and flavoursome. Favourites include their fusilli, penne and spaghetti.

Corn pastas
Corn (maize pastas) are quite neutral in taste and make a great base for spicy, tangy or creamy sauces. They’re often flavoured with spinach, peppers and sundried tomatoes as well. But, like rice pasta, corn pasta can fall apart quickly. So you need to ensure you don’t overcook it. One minute it looks fine and the next minute it’s a mushy paste in the bottom of your pan. Now personally, I think corn pasta gets a bit rubbery when it’s cool so it’s not great for salads.

Orgran do a number of corn only pastas which are pretty good.

Rice/corn mixes
The easiest gluten free pastas to cook – and the most versatile – are the corn and rice mix pastas. So it’s always worth having a couple of bags in the cupboard.

Doves Farm produces a delicious corn/rice penne, made in Italy. As does Dietary Specials, Orgran, Sainsbury’s and Tesco. Our favourite gluten free pasta though is the buckwheat, corn and rice spirals from Hale & Hearty. Perfect with a tomato sauce, oven roasted vegetables, olives and smoked mozzarella. Delicious!

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Corn-based gluten free pasta

I’ve just been on a snowboarding trip to a small resort called Baqueira-Beret on the Spanish side of the Pyrenées. Luckily, being able to successfully manage a gluten free diet in Spain has become increasingly easy in recent years.

I was in Barcelona before I went to the mountains and there are a few restaurants that are pretty knowledgeable when it comes to coeliac disease. I discovered these thanks to an article by those CeliacChicks. This led me to the Celiac Society Catalunya Restaurant Guide which has a larger list, although the site itself is in Spanish (or Catalan).

When cooking at a friend’s house, I used some gluten free corn-based pasta that I picked up in a great little shop on Via Laietana called Veritas. Expensive at €4,35 (see photo) but very good none the less. And probably pricey because it’s actually an Italian brand! They also stocked Clearspring products, which I know from the UK.

Anyway, back to the mountains. The resort of Baqueira-Beret wasn’t so easy. The hotel was accommodating but eating out proved more difficult. So on my return I did a quick search on eating gluten free whilst skiing/snowboarding. I found an article by a guy in the US on his site Gluten Free Snowboarder. The site isn’t about gluten free snowboarding per se: he just happens to be a keen snowboarder who is also gluten intolerant! The crux of the article was that, although a few resorts in the US are starting to be more accommodating, it’s probably worth taking a packed lunch with you when you hit the slopes. Let’s hope the resorts in the US and in Europe catch up soon with the major cities.

So plenty to enjoy when eating in Spain even if you are slightly more on your own when in the mountains. Just make sure you take your Catalan or Spanish gluten free restaurant card from Celiac Travel with you!

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So I was pleased to see the recent publication of Gluten-Free Italian written by Jacqueline Mallorca (author of the Wheat-Free Cook) and published by Da Capo Press. This beautiful book, packed full of colour photos, contains 150 gluten free versions of your favourite traditional Italian recipes.

Chapter headings include Soup for Supper; Sweet Things; Risotto and other Grains; Catch of the Day; Contorni/Vegetable Dishes; and Bread, Pizza and Crostini. And contain delicious recipes which will please every member of the family; not just those who are gluten free.

There are recipes for gluten free bruschetta and pizzas, to fabulous pasta dishes and sweet treats like tiramisu. (A personal favourite.)

And there’s a range of recipes as well, from everyday cooking to dinner party meals. Jacqueline also includes cooking tips and techniques; recipe background information; a gluten free shopping guide; and a list of gluten free foods to have in your larder.

All in all, Gluten-Free Italian is a fabulous addition to your cookbook collection. And a must for lovers of Italian cooking.

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