A Mostaccioli lunch!

To all extents and purposes Mostaccioli is virtually the same sort of noodle as Penne Rigate, only without the 'rifling'. So, it's a smooth hollow pasta that I thought would be interesting to try.

Not surprisingly, cooking times in boiling water were very similar; about 10 to 12 minutes. What I really liked about a meal, such as this one is, was the ease of prep. You boil some water, throw in the pasta, stir and that's about as hard as it gets. For a sauce I used Hunt's, right out of the can, adding only a dash of oregano and red wine. The 'garlic bread' was made using a slice of regular bread, minced garlic and a little fake butter. Enjoy!

Enjoying pasta even while dieting!

For anyone who has had to go on a diet, I would agree that it can be tough! Food  that you might really like, as in potatoes, pasta and bread are generally included on the list of stuff you can't eat!

In my case, I look at all foods mainly in terms of just two factors; carbs and calories! If you can reign those dudes into some semblance of reason, then any diet you might try, will likely be successful. The carbohydrate intake, in particular, needs to be monitored very carefully. (I try for less than 160 grams per day). Note that going below 50 grams can throw your metabolism into a state of ketosis. A potentially bad thing for you to find yourself in - see this article for more.

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As you can see in the picture above, that's a whole lot of pasta with a simple meatless tomato sauce! And is that garlic bread? Yes. I'm guilty on both counts. But at 277 calories (290 with the Parmesan and red wine I added), this was still a very can do lunch! After having a bowl of oats for my breakfast with half a cup of milk, I had a good idea of what I could enjoy for afternoon snack and dinner!

Following was the entire day that followed. Note that I was able to reserve calories for those inevitable late night snacks....

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After seeing that I had gained weight.... I made pasta!

I got down to business and made myself up a batch of pasta! What? Yes, I've always felt that when you begin to let events start to control your life, then it's time to say WTF!

Of the many pasta's I've tried, over the years, I like Penne Rigate most! It's fast to cook up (7 minutes), absorbs the sauce really well and makes my tummy very happy!

But, what about your diet, you may well ask? No biggie. Like all things food, it's really the calories you have to watch, and in the cast of pasta, it's all about portions.

According to the package, a ¾ cup (56 grams) of dried Penne will contain about 200 calories. Add a very simple tomato sauce and you would be pushing about 350 calories, all told. That's not really bad, in my book at least!

Where you have to exercise caution would be with topping like Parmesan cheese and such. The only side I like to add is a slice of garlic bread which throws another 120 or so calories into the meal mix. Still a very livable repast....

American Beauty Penne Rigate vs Best Choice!

The last time I purchased Penne Rigate at a local store, the American Beauty offering was on sale for just a buck for a one pound (545g) package. A great deal! However, the next time I stopped there, I was forced to purchase a package of Best Choice that also came in at the same weight. The cost, at $1.89, was 47% more costly, however. (Something that caused me to consider buying this stuff only when on sale in the future)!

Am Beauty vs BC

As might be pretty obvious, the Best Choice product (right) had a larger bore diameter more due to the thickness of the wall than anything else. A thicker noodle should take a bit longer to cook and this was reflected in the length of the cooking times; 6-7 minutes for the American Beauty versus 10 to 12 minutes for the BC, (or about the same amount of time it would take to cook regular spaghetti). Each package had a recommended serving size of 2/3 of a cup or 56 grams of product. (I noted that the actual counts of noodles were 69 for the American Beauty and just 57 for the heavier Best Choice).

The question that then came to my mind was one of overall taste and firmness. I prefer my pasta on the al dente (pasta that is cooked to be firm to the bite) side of things, and so aimed for that in my effort at cooking it.

OK. Let the experiment begin!

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Preparation: For this test, I used 6 cups of water in a 2 quart Le Crueset. I added a quarter teaspoon of sea salt, brought the water to a rolling boil and then added the noodles. These were cooked for exactly 10 minutes, with me taste testing the noodles for doneness towards the end of that time. After cooking, I then added about a quarter cup of Hunt's tomato sauce to a sauce pan in which the two were brought together for the first, (and the last) time. That added a minute to the cooking time for the noodles. The only extra ingredient I used was a very light sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. (At ~260 calories, this was a very doable diet styled meal)! Note: I'm not sure where that garlic toast came from!! That, and the tomato juice elevated this meal into the 400 calorie level...

Results: When compared to the American Beauty pasta, I found the Best Choice version to feel a lot more 'meaty'. It went OK together with the sauce and I enjoyed the experience. Still, in the future, I plan to base my selection strictly on the cost factor and will go with the 'lighter' noodle when I can!

Penne pasta: Dry weight vs cooked!

Whenever I've worked with pasta, one sticking point has always been the 'amounts' shown as a suggested serving. For instance, on a package of American Beauty Penne Rigate, the recommended serving is 2 ounces or 56 grams or 3/4 cup. This was 72 pieces by count b-t-w. But, are they talking dry weight or cooked weight as there is quite a lot of difference! Other sites, like one on Kraft, have tables that are supposed to clear things up;

So, 8 ounces of Penne results in 4 cups of cooked pasta at least according to Kraft. Which would translate to 2 ounces making up about 1 cup, (not 3/4 cup). Yes, I was more confused than ever. So, I decided to weigh out exactly 56 grams, cook it and then weigh it again after draining. Wow! Right off the bat, I noted that 56 grams measured out as 3/4 of a cup! OK! So, right there, I knew that with American Beauty they're talking dry weights!

Next, I wanted to see what sort of volume the cooked pasta would have....

OK! About a cup! These noodles went into my luncheon post where I looked at the nutritional analysis!