I was recently asked by the fine folks at Cappello’s to try out their unique line of fresh gluten-free, grain-free pasta, and I was excited to get my hands on their product. First of all, I have a special place in my heart for Italian dishes; I started to realize that I was pretty good at this whole “cooking” thing when I first started to focus on and perfect a few Italian meals, many years ago. Secondly, while we do eat dishes using boxed rice noodles from time to time, nothing beats fresh pasta.

The pasta is made using mainly egg and almond flour, and has a taste and consistency that is the best I’ve experienced from a non-wheat product. Read on for some more pictures and details, and I will have the recipes for each of these products up on the site over the next two weeks.

You can tell that Cappello’s is serious about their product. Not only do they have an excellent mission statement (“provide fresh, uniquely delicious options for gourmet food-lovers, healthy eaters, and people with dietary restrictions”), but you can tell that a lot of effort went into making their product unique. Just check out the packing material! Additionally, each serving of pasta was carefully portioned and packaged in a clean, sharp-looking package.

The fettucine was awesome. It was a perfect serving size for four meals of fettucine alfredo (bear in mind that the pasta wasn’t a centerpiece of the meal – that was the meat and veggies!), and it had a firm (but not chewy) texture. The pasta didn’t hold up very well to re-heating the next day, but that’s not altogether unexpected since it’s not made with wheat. To cook the noodles, you just simply blanch them in boiling water for about a minute.

Recipe: Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

The lasagna noodles held up very well during cooking. They were an excellent thickness, just thin enough to separate the layers without taking too much of the eater’s attention. The sheets were not uniform in length but it was easy enough to cut them to fit our lasagna dish.

Recipe: Gluten Free Lasagna

The fresh potato gnocchi was probably out favorite of the bunch. I blanched them in boiling water for a minute, and then tossed them with some butter and my homemade basil pesto. They were quite a hit!

Recipe: Shrimp Scampi

In the end, while we don’t eat pasta dishes very often, it may definitely be worth your time and the little slightly higher price to order Cappello’s and try it for yourself. For anyone with dietary restrictions this may be just the ticket for an occasional indulgence!