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When the whole Atkins craze took off, bread and pasta manufacturers panicked. I even had a friend or two who swore off all food that looks white. Bread is okay if it’s multigrain or whole wheat. They even ate the no-carb bread and pasta, which they said were awful and dry but kept eating them anyway. I never got into this whole carb-avoidance phenomenon, which probably explains why I weigh 1x4. (Yeah, like I’m really going to reveal my weight… I’ll just keep you guessing on that middle number.) Whether I’m a glutton for punishment or just need to do something about my gluttony, I decided to try the enriched multigrain pasta, which in this case is the Barilla PLUS Rotini ($1.79). For those who really want to know what goes into this multigrain pasta, the ingredients to this pasta are: Semolina, grain & legume flower blend (lentils, chick peas, oats, spelt, barleg, egg whites, ground flaxseeds and wheat fiber), niacin, ferrous lactate (iron), thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, and folic acid.

My issues: all the ingredients sound like the making of a nutritious meal; the box tells you how good this multigrain pasta is for you, and even tells you how much protein, fiber, and ALA Omega-3 you get in one cup of uncooked pasta. This makes me wonder how much of the good stuff I really take in after the pasta’s been boiled, because I, for one, don’t eat uncooked pasta.

So now that we know what goes into the multigrain pasta (kind of), how does it compare to regular pasta?

Regular rotini (or corkscrew) pasta usually takes about 8-10 minutes to cook, but with the multigrain rotini, I let it sit for about 13 minutes in boiling water. The box says “Due to its higher protein conten, Barilla PLUS takes several extra minutes to cook than traditional pasta.” Well, after 13 minutes, here is the final result:


It looks like regular pasta after it has been cooked. I even tried one right out of the pot, and while the multigrain is not as tender as regular pasta, I didn’t taste any difference between the two. So to those people who think multigrain pasta is less delicious than traditional pasta, I say, Give it a chance! I don’t think multigrain pasta is really much healthier for you (or as healthy for you as the box advertises), but it certainly does not taste bad.

Final step: mix with whatever kind of sauce is your choice. Me, I sauteed some lean turkey meat, threw in some red bell peppers, onions, and tomato sauce. Add in some seasoning and additional flavoring to your preference, top with paramsean and basil, and voila… my dinner last night.

By Pauline (see more of her posts).