Greetings and salutations, blog readers! 

Today we are talking about veggie pasta! 

So, I know a few of my readers either avoid gluten for health or dietary reasons, or, are looking to shed wheat where they can, to cut carbs. I personally never eat enough vegetables and I am desperatly trying to eat in a healthier way that is a bit more sustainable. 

Unless you are new here, you probably know I like pasta…

Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t know if I have talked about my Italian background and Italian cooking, but, with a last name like Grasso, you probably didn’t need to see how much garlic I go through to see I am heavily influenced by all parts of my family, and my Italian side of the family definitely took a hold of me in the kitchen. 

This leads to all sorts of experimentation in the kitchen with my Italian roots keeping me grounded in deliciousness. 

So, I have been playing with pasta alternatives. I have been meaning to blog about my veggie noodler I got from Wish.com- so I am making a note to come back and link that blog once I finish it, along with some options from Amazon for buying your own noodler and getting to try it. Please note the one I have is also a peeler, and is NOT a spiraling noodle maker, but is a plain noodler, no spirals, so, keep that in mind, when you read that blog. (Amazon Affiliate link, if you use that link I make a small amount of money at no cost to you.)

But, veggie noodlers require access to fresh veggies like zucchini and carrots, which I, and others, don’t always have access too. So: I started looking into veggie alternatives, like veggie or chickpea pasta. 

Then, while at Kroger, I found some chickpea pasta, and then some veggie based noodles, the later still has wheat/gluten, but the chickpea pasta was made from chickpea flour, and both were on sale!

First, I tried the chickpea, which had a really yummy “whole wheat pasta” taste, like the kind of pasta made from whole grains, and the chickpea makes for a chewy noodle. I don’t know that I LOVED the flavor, but I didn’t get the same satisfaction that I tend to get from regular pasta. I wouldn’t say it wasn’t delicious though, but, I can see others having an issue with it, and I didn’t LOVE the noodles. Let me know if you want more recipes with these, however, because I have some ideas!

Then I tried the Bertolli veggie pasta, which reduces the wheat used, but still is gluten based, sorry to anyone dealing with that, so this is more for those looking for healthier options when enjoying pasta. 

These noodles had everything I want from a good noodle, good bite and chew, along with a good structure that doesn’t get mushy, and has some awesome flavor, like the multi color rotini’s you use for pasta salad. 

Overall, I loved this pasta, as a slightly healthier, and helps me get more veggies, type of pasta, and I keep buying more boxes of it, hell I had some earlier today. 

I do enjoy the chickpea pasta, just not as much, but if you need a gluten alternative, and a shelf stable pasta, I can not recommend them enough! 

I made the pasta’s in similar fashions, most of them were tossed in a sauce made out of one or more of the following: Olive oil, garlic, butter, parm, onion, tomato, adding a green veggie like peas or spinach if I have it on hand.

If you want to know a few of the recipes I have used, or want more cooking type blog or vlog content, please comment, DM, or in some way, let me know, and I will add it to the list! 

I hope you get a chance to try the pastas, now that Bertolli is making veggie and plant based pastas, they are fairly accessble for a decent price, so please let me know if you try them and if you enjoy, or if you need any ideas for how to cook up your noodles!

Thanks so much for reading!

❤

Abbi