Wholewheat pasta- how to make it taste nice?!

[FrozenPetisPois]

Went a bit crazy and bought 2kg of wholewheat pasta last weekend to kick start a healthier diet.

But it tastes so different to normal white pasta- it's sort of gritty and no matter what sauce I put on it, it's not very nice. Edible, but not delightful.

How do you make it taste nice? Am I not cooking it right?! Or do you just put up with the gritty texture?

I think you just have to get used to it, make sure it's cooked enough though, you probably need to experiment with cooking times.

Don't think it's possible.

I don't like it at all, nothing makes it taste nice

I'm not crazy about it either, but strangely I have discovered that wholewheat spaghetti is not so bad and doesn't have that gritty texture. Even DC didn't complain. Spag bol with plenty of parmesan.

i love wholewheat pasta! it took a bit of getting used to after using white pasta for so long but i hate white stuff now, it's just tasteless white flobber to me know.

a nice sauce made with baby plum tomatoes, lots of garlic and fresh basil served with a nice helping of parmesan and it's delish.

The way we disgusie everthing ( eg unfamiliar vegetables ) with lots of grated cheese till they've had it enough times to get used to it.

Ahh, so we will get used to it after a while?

That's okay then, I'm willing to disguise it in other food for a while! Thank you.

I love it with cavolo nero, pancetta, garlic and feta cheese.
It's a winter thing though.

Depends which one you buy.
Tesco one tastes like normal pasta to me, Napolina tastes awful.

The one I bought is Tesco Authentic Italian, but to me it tastes gritty. Perhaps this is because I've only ever eaten white pasta?!

am with bamboo - you get used to it - just like when you stop taking sugar in your coffee. I can't stand white pasta now.

I never noticed any grittiness. Mybe you didn't cook it long enough? I think it needs a bit longer.

yes you definitely get used to it. we almost always have wholewheat pasta (including the kids) and I can't stand white pasta now, it's like eating nothing, tastes so bland and I am hungry again much sooner than I would have been with wholewheat.

You need strong flavours to go with it, like chorizo, chilli, garlicky tomatoey based sauces. Also we like chopped up sausage and mushrooms with it too.

Anything delicate like if I am making crab linguini, I use white pasta.

I think it's fine but agree that it needs a strong flavoured sauce. The spaghetti is better than the shapes - and once you can get past the fact that it smells like Weetabix, it actually tastes fine! Agree that half white and half wholewheat might be worth a shot too.

My mum had bought a Tesco half white and half wholewheat one it tasted horrible...really nasty. Tasted like raw flour, and really grainy.. so beware!

I use the waitrose one, so I can't comment on the brand. It needs longer cooking - I serve it with a tomato sauce, with lots of parmesan and extra virgin olive oil - dcs who are almost addicted to pasta have been fairly happy with the change from white to whole wheat, so I'm assuming it wss a pretty minor change. I don't eat pasta any more so I haven't done a taste test.

Eat more brown bread and sultana bran for breakfast if you want fibre. Brown pasta is not nice.

I want to try wholewheat pasta now.

I even fed it to a very fussy child last week on a play date who's mother said she never eats at home or in other people's houses - she had 3 platefuls so it can't be that bad! Would try a different brand. Noticed my local waitrose are only selling wholewheat spaghetti so I'll be trying out the Sainburies brand soon. Will report back on quality.

Brown rice also went down well here - dcs were expecting it to be awful but they were pleasantly surprised.

IMO certain recipes actually taste better with wholewheat pasta - things with very earthy flavours e.g. a Nigel Slater one with sausages and mustard.

I think that tomatoey sauces are best with w/w pasta - you'd never get me doing a carbonara with one, for example. You do get used to it. Although I've lapsed back into white pasta now. I have brown everything else, it's my indulgence!

I can imagine that Nigel sausages recipe would be nice with w/w though

Found it! here

I like it with pesto, tuna and olives, YUM! :)

I do a pasta salad that my nearly 18 month old loves. Best to do it in a wok-like pot but you can use anything.

Fry some courgette with onion in a bit of oil while the pasta is cooking.
That gives a veg.
You can chop up some cherry tomatoes and add those to the pot with the courgettes once they're finished
add capers, olives, and chopped spring onions or shallots (whichever you like really)
then add any sort of crumbly cheese (we like feta, you may prefer something else)
then add the pasta and a bit of vinegar, any sort ( I use white wine or cider) and a tin of green lentils.

Really , though, the advantage is that you can put in anything you like. hope that helps a bit.