Food: Noodle Me This
By Amy Zavatto
Photograph by Anthony Verde, Eco Styling by Camilla Slattery
Rummo, Organic Whole Wheat Penne Rigate
$2.49 for a 16-ounce bag,
pastarummo.com
Rummo’s organic penne cooked evenly in the suggested eleven minutes. Its firm texture and mild flavor worked well with many different sauces—although we thought it was downright heavenly swathed in a creamy alfredo.
Eden Organic Pasta Company, Organic Golden Amber Durum Wheat Vegetable Ribbons
$3.69 for an 8-ounce box,
edenpasta.com
Eden’s pappardelle-like ribbons cooked to al dente in about six minutes (but still had a slightly gummy texture). The lovely red, green, and off-white noodles were best dressed simply, with good, old-fashioned extra-virgin olive oil.
Bionaturae, 100% Whole Wheat Fusilli
$2.79 for a 16-ounce bag,
bionaturae.com
These twisty little noodles were pleasantly dense (if a little gritty) and left a flavor reminiscent of whole-wheat crackers—which some of our panel appreciated, and some did not. In our tasting, this pasta worked best with a big, powerful pesto sauce.
Organica Di Sicilia, Durum Semolina Rigatoni
$2.19 for a 16-ounce bag
Although it took a full minute more of cooking time (nine minutes total) than the package suggested to reach al dente consistency, this pasta cooked evenly, had a buttery, almost gnocchi-like texture, and seemed to gently absorb the flavor of any sauce we put on it. Perfetto!
DeBoles, Organic Spinach Fettuccine
$2.29 for an 8-ounce box
deboles.com
Though the cooked noodles stuck together slightly, DeBoles had a good, firm texture and a strong spinach flavor with a slight after-tang, likely from the addition of Jerusalem artichoke flour. We liked it best with marinara or good olive oil and parmesan.






