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!
So which pasta did you like the best ..something you would actually buy? I’m thinking the gnocchi would be the best as it has the potato flakes to bind to the almond flour.
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Hi Monica, I definitely liked the gnocchi the best, mostly because I hadn’t had any in years!
Overall, the fettuccine was the most impressive, as it really had the most authentic consistency of the bunch. I would say that the cost is warranted as long as you treat these pastas as a once-in-a-while treat. The packaging said that they could be frozen, as well, so you may want to buy it in bulk to have on hand when the cravings hit… :)
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the wheat starch based xanthan gum probably why i had a reaction to the gnocchi. i could not swallow it, i was choking & my throat swelled up.
i told capellos & they said they would send coupons to try their other products. they would not refund my money.
they did send three coupons which expired 8 months prior to the date the coupons were mailed.LikeLike
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Looks awesome, Russ! Sadly, my sweetie can’t eat almonds, due to asthma-related issues. Do you know if the gnocchi is strictly potato flour? Or is there something else in there??
Like you, the pasta nights have largely disappeared from my life since going Paleo about a year and a half ago. Also like you, it’s a bummer, because I felt that I’d really developed a knack for whipping up some yummy pasta creations. (Plus, my heritage is Ital-American, so it’s a serious comfort food for me — it’s still tough for me to not think of it during times of stress or celebrations.) Of all the “subs” I’ve tried, only two so far qualify as worth repeating — zuchinni “pasta” and butternut squash lasagna. You read a lot in Paleo-land about spaghetti squash, but it just doesn’t cut it for me — no flavor, and I find it to be watery. And any gluten-free noodles I’ve tried so far have had a lousy texture and flavor. So, I’ll keep my eyes out for these.
Thanks!
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Hey Albert, unfortunately the gnocchi has almond flour in it. Here are the ingredients:
almond flour, organic potato flake, whole egg, tapioca flour, egg whites, potato starch, sea salt
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Oh man, your photos set off some wicked pasta cravings. Darn these companies that won’t ship to Canada! Guess I’ll have to figure out how to make my own gnocchi! ; )
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What are the carbs like on these? Is there nutrition info for them available?
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Hi Ginny, if I remember correctly, according to the packaging each serving has about 25g of carbs per serving. The back of each package has the nutrition info but the site doesn’t. I’m sure they’d email it to you if you asked though!
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Just wondered where I could find the follow up recipes
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Laura, good catch. I just added links to each recipe in this post!
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I read your review of this pasta and was excited since I can’t eat grains. I went to this company’s web site and checked out the ingredients and it contains xanthan gum which is from corn, a grain! This happens often when I find what would normally be a healthy grain free product. Xanthan gum is not something that should be consumed by those of us who get sick from grain products yet it is in many food products that would otherwise be grain free. I hope the company removes that ingredient. I won’t be purchasing their pasta unless they do.
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Hi Lorraine, you bring up a good point. Xantham gum is a product of fermenting glucose or sugar, and while it can come from corn, it doesn’t necessarily have to. It’s actually a bacteria that grows on fermented vegetables (like the black stuff on rotten broccoli, pretty crazy!). I’ll contact the company and see if they know the source of their xantham gum.
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Many sources are from corn because it costs less. Most corn in the U,S, is GMO also, so that is another concern. I contacted them and will wait to hear back. I’d rather not consume anything with xanthan gum.
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I just heard back from that company and their so called grain free pasta has xanthan gum that is a wheat starch source! I’m so glad that I didn’t buy this stuff! That is dangerous to Celiacs!
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Lorraine, I agree, that is concerning. I’m not qualified to discuss whether wheat-derived xantham gum is dangerous to those suffering from celiac; I personally had no adverse reactions when eating the pasta. I agree that it is probably better to avoid this product.
At some point I do hope to develop my own pasta recipe (I posted a gnocchi recipe last year).
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still too many carbs
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As a professional teaching chef, I recently had the opportunity to test out the Capello’s products at my school. I recently did a cooking demonstration at a local natural/organic store in the Denver area. I find the products very suitable in several applications. A far cry from the early gluten-free pasta that hit the market..this is fresh, flavorful and adaptable. They have become my go-to pastas in several recipes!
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Russ, my local market in California just started carrying Cappello’s, so this weekend I picked up a gnocchi and fettucine. And I just tried making radish greens pesto last night (surprisingly good) that I’ll try on the gnocchi. For the person who is concerned about Xanthan Gum, the gnocchi does NOT contain it.
Have you tried their pizza dough yet? I haven’t yet found it locally, but I’m wondering what it’s like before I try to order it.
I nearly always make things homemade, but once in a blue moon, it’s nice to be able to grab something that saves a little time.
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I just found this product. I was amazed at the taste and texture. Nice to know that there is a pasta for Paleo’s.
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I ordered from Capello’s online. I was very excited to try this. When my items arrived they weren’t frozen or even cold. Their info says to notify them immediately so I did. They still have not responded. Terrible customer service, a good bit of money spent on food in not even certain would be safe to try. I’m very, very disappointed.
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