brown rice pasta

Has anyone made a baked pasta dish using brown rice pasta? I'd like to rework a couple of my traditional pasta recipes (home made macaroni and cheese, baked mastaccoli, etc.) using brown rice. All the instructions say not to over cook it, so my suspicion is that I can't bake it, but would love to hear otherwise. Has anyone tried this?

Thanks,

Ann

Tinkyada is a brand of brown rice pasta that I frequently use due to a gluten intolerance. I've found when making baked pasta dishes (mac and cheese, baked ziti, etc.) that it's best to boil the Tinkyada pasta for no more than 3 minutes and then thoroughly rinse it in cold water. If it is not chilled before adding the sauce and put it in the oven it tends to turn to mush. I think it also helps if each of the componets is thorougly cooked and warm(sans pasta) when the dish is put together. I would also suggest that you not use a timer to determine doneness, but rather look and taste. Brown rice pasta goes from al dente to mush in about 3 seconds flat.

There are some brands of gluten free pasta that are extemely close in taste and texture to semolina pastas. Of all my pasta choices, brown rice is my least favorite. It's quite heavy and can be a bit gummy. I'll share a couple brands that I like, if you're intersted.

veloute

Please do share those brands that you like

My favorite gluten-free pasta is called Bi-Aglut and it is made in Italy. Its texture and taste are very similar to semolina pasta, but it does cook faster than traditional pasta. In addition it comes with a hefty price of $8-9 per pound at local health food stores.

The other pasta that I quite like is Bionature pasta. Bionature is also made it Italy and it is very similar to the Bi-Aglut in taste and texture. Bionature make a gluten version as well as the gluten free version so read the label carefully. Bionature is frequently stocked at some Whole Food and Jewel grocery stores and it costs less than $4 per 12oz package.
veloute

Veloute,

Thanks for the advice about pasta brands. My family hated the brown rice pasta when I served it with a stir fry. I was trying to serve it with something that would have kinds of a peanutty flavor that I thought would go with the pasta. The flavor wasn't bad, it was the texture of the noodles, which weren't overcooked, but were just kind of dry and gummy.

With the brands you recommend, can I make a baked mac n cheese? or would it be better to do a stove top version, mixing the cooked pasta in at the end and then perhaps sticking it under the broiler for a minute to brown the top?

Ann

I have had excellent results using the 2 brands of pasta for baked mac and cheese. As I stated above, I would suggest you par-cook the pasta for no longer than 3 minutes, immediately drain and rinse in cold water until cool to the touch. For some reason gluten free pasta cooks much faster than GF pasta. Be careful not to overbake it otherwise it will turn to mush and be horrible[read unedible].

For what it's worth, I've been using sweet rice flour as a thickener for sauces. It's been my experience that I need to use half as much sweet rice flour as AP flour for thickening purposes. If too much is used it becomes glutinous and rubbery once it's cooled and the results are absolutely disgusting.
veloute

Again, thanks, veloute.

We have friends we eat with every other weekend (in a larger group). We've been meeting for nigh on 14 years now (no, we're not getting older) and since we began they've both gone off of gluten and he's off of dairy of all kinds. So it tends to get difficult to do anything other than meat and veg with bread on the side for those who can indulge in that. So I'm trying to make things they can eat, and try at the same time to cut down on the carbohydrates for my own family's pasta addiction;>) We're just missing the mac and cheese.

Ann