best recipes using whole wheat pasta

[Anonymous]

Trying to switch to whole grain pastas.. but out usual spaghetti and meat sauce isn't doing much to mask (or work with) the whole grain pasta, which is a new taste, texture for us. Any favorite recipes that really work with the taste, texture of the whole grain pasta? And what's your favorite brand of whole grain pasta? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Good for you, OP. Every little bit helps to get additional fiber. I usually look for bread and pasta with at least 2 g of fiber.

I've had better luck with the texture/taste of angel hair pasta for whole grain. I'm blanking on the brand.

[Anonymous]

I really like this recipe from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine. You can change up the vegetables or add more, and it's good warm or cold.

Lighter Sesame Noodles

INGREDIENTS

Coarse salt
12 ounces whole-wheat spaghetti
1 bunch broccoli, cut into florets, stalks peeled and thinly sliced
2 red bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons dark-brown sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 to 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

DIRECTIONS

STEP 1
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook spaghetti 3 minutes less than al dente. Add broccoli, bell peppers, and onion. Cook until pasta is al dente and vegetables are tender, 3 minutes more. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water; drain pasta and vegetables.

STEP 2
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together peanut butter, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, oil, garlic, and red-pepper flakes. Add hot pasta and vegetables; toss to coat, thinning sauce with a little pasta water, if necessary. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

[Anonymous]

We have found that it works really well in baked pasta dishes like stuffed shells or lasagne. The ww pasta is more rugged or something, so it holds up well when it's baked and sits in the fridge leftover.

[Anonymous]

Keep trying different brands/products until you find one you like. We really like Barilla White Fiber pasta. It's in a blue box. Far lighter than traditional whole wheat pastas.

[Anonymous]

I like this one-pot pasta recipe a lot. We eat Barilla Plus (?)

http://www.apronstringsblog.com/one-pot-wonder-tomato-basil-pasta-recipe/

Serves 4 to 6 as an entree

12 ounces linguine pasta
1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes with liquid ( I used zesty red pepper flavor)
1 large sweet onion, cut in julienne strips
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
2 large sprigs basil, chopped
4 1/2 cups vegetable broth (regular broth and NOT low sodium)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Parmesan cheese for garnish

Place pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, in a large stock pot. Pour in vegetable broth. Sprinkle on top the pepper flakes and oregano. Drizzle top with oil.

Cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low simmer and keep covered and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes or so. Cook until almost all liquid has evaporated – I left about an inch of liquid in the bottom of the pot – but you can reduce as desired .

Season to taste with salt and pepper , stirring pasta several times to distribute the liquid in the bottom of the pot. Serve garnished with parmesan cheese.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really like this recipe from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine. You can change up the vegetables or add more, and it's good warm or cold.

Lighter Sesame Noodles

INGREDIENTS

Coarse salt
12 ounces whole-wheat spaghetti
1 bunch broccoli, cut into florets, stalks peeled and thinly sliced
2 red bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons dark-brown sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 to 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

DIRECTIONS

STEP 1
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook spaghetti 3 minutes less than al dente. Add broccoli, bell peppers, and onion. Cook until pasta is al dente and vegetables are tender, 3 minutes more. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water; drain pasta and vegetables.

STEP 2
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together peanut butter, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, oil, garlic, and red-pepper flakes. Add hot pasta and vegetables; toss to coat, thinning sauce with a little pasta water, if necessary. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Wow! This recipe looks great! I personally like a light cream type sauce or just olive oil, pepper and parm over ww pasta. Tomato sauce for me doesn;t seem to do it. You need something that will hold up to the stronger, nuttier flavor of the pasta

[Anonymous]

Another thing to try is using whole wheat angel hair (cappellini). Because it's so thin it's less chewy than thicker WW pastas such as penne.

[Anonymous]

Agree with the rec's to try ww angel hair instead of penne, farfalle, etc. I like the taste of ww pasta, barilla is my brand of choice, but for some reason the barilla plus is like lead in my stomach. I also try to find recipes with nuts bc those tend to work well with ww pasta - like toss it with nut pesto or grilled shrimp with crushed peanuts on top. I will try the peanut noodle recipe above!

[Anonymous]

We like Bionature brand. Definitely try different brands-the tastes really vary.