Catelli Healthy Harvest Ancient Grains Pasta just launched in Western Canada in early 2015. It currently comes in 3 cuts – spaghetti, spaghettini and rotini. It is 100% whole grain pasta, made with 100% Canadian wheat and five ancient grains – quinoa, teff, amaranth, millet, and sorghum. These grains have funny names, but they each have their own health benefits. It’s all natural with no preservatives and GMO free certified.
Coupon codes for Catelli can be found here for a limited time and quantity. If you want to enter for a years supply of Catelli® Healthy Harvest® Ancient Grains pasta, scroll down.
Celebrity Chef Lynn Crawford shared with us her top 10 tips for cooking Whole Grain Pasta. Some people are unsure if they should be cooking the pasta differently than white pasta. These tips will help.
- Watch your cooking time: Pasta should be cooked according to the cook time guide on the package to achieve the ideal al dente texture. For a professional twist, cut one to two minutes off the suggested cooking time, drain and finish off cooking your pasta in the sauce.
- Skip the oil: There is no need to add oil to your cooking water. Despite popular belief, this actually takes away from the pasta’s final texture and ability to adhere to the sauce. Skip the oil and embrace the starchiness of your pasta.
- Water your pasta: When cooking pasta, use a large pot. As basic as it sounds, it will make a difference in the outcome of your pasta. You will need one litre of water to about 100 grams of pasta. Using a large pot will give the pasta room to boil and help keep the noodles from sticking together.
- Think salty sea: Add a generous amount of sea salt to the boiling water to ensure your pasta is well seasoned. You may even want to taste the water before adding your pasta to make sure there is enough salt.
- Avoid rinsing: For hot pasta dishes, never rinse the pasta after cooking in order to retain the starch and enable warm sauces to better adhere to the pasta.
- Create the perfect pair: Delicate pasta shapes go well with delicate sauces, and heartier, ridged shapes pair well with richer sauces and ragus. For example, try long thin pasta, such as spaghetti, with a classic marinara sauce. Penne, ziti or rigatoni lend themselves to thicker sauces with more texture, such as a ragu Bolognese.
- Embrace the texture: Whole grain pasta has a hearty, firm texture that’s perfect for cold or chilled recipes and marinates well in tangy dressings. The firmness of the noodles also provides a good base for both crunchy and juicy fresh vegetables.
- Top it off: With a nutty, rich flavour, whole grain pasta can take on other strong, complex flavours. Ingredients that pair well with whole grain pasta include garlic, chili, anchovies, rich pesto sauces, and bitter or dark leafy greens such as kale, Swiss chard and radicchio.
- Take the heat: When preparing hot pasta recipes, keep your serving plates or bowls warm in an oven set to a low temperature until you’re ready to serve. This will ensure that your final dish stays nice and hot.
- Crank up the flavour: Whole grain pasta is an easy base on which to build a healthy and delicious meal. Incorporate a lean protein, plenty of fresh vegetables, and seasoning with big flavours in the pasta for an even more nutritious and satisfying dish.
We found that the best cooking time for the pasta was around 8 minutes to have a nice al dente texture that wasn’t too limp or too hard.
Below are 3 recipes you can check out:
[tabs tab1=”Chef Crawford’s Classic Tomato Sauce” ]
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Makes 4 cups (1 L)
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1⁄8 tsp (0.5 mL) chili flakes
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) tomato paste
- 1 tsp (5 mL) sugar
- 1 can (28 oz/796 mL) chopped tomatoes
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) chopped parsley
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) chopped basil
Instructions:
In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, and chili flakes. Cook until the onions are golden brown, about 6 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and sugar; cook for an additional 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and their juices. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and stir in the parsley and basil.
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[tabs tab1=”Chef Crawford’s Basil Pesto Sauce” ]
[tab id=1]
Makes 2 cups (500 mL)
Ingredients:
- 3 cups (750 mL) loosely packed basil leaves
- ¼ cup (60 mL) grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) pine nuts, toasted
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 cup (250 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Instructions:
In a food processor, combine the basil, Parmesan, pine nuts, garlic, and ¼ cup (60 mL) of the olive oil. Process until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl. With the machine running, add the remaining olive oil in a slow, steady stream until the pesto has thickened. Season with salt and pepper.
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[tabs tab1=”Chilled Noodle Salad with Ginger Wasabi Dressing” ]
[tab id=1]
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 8 min
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
- 1 pkg (340 g) Catelli® Healthy Harvest® Ancient Grains Spaghettini
- 2 cups (500 ml) snow peas, thinly sliced diagonally
- 1 cup (250 ml) shelled edamame
- 1 small English cucumber
- 2 cups (500 ml) napa cabbage, finely shredded
- 1 cup (250 ml) red pepper, cut into matchsticks
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 ripe avocado, sliced
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) cilantro leaves
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) black sesame seeds
Ginger-Wasabi Dressing:
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) seasoned rice vinegar
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) canola oil
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) soy sauce
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) lemon juice
- 1 tsp (5 ml) lemon zest
- 2 tsp (10 ml) brown sugar
- 2 tsp (10 ml) sesame oil
- 1 tsp (5 ml) grated fresh ginger
- wasabi to taste
Instructions:
- Cook pasta according to package directions; drain well. Rinse under cold water until well chilled; transfer to large bowl and set aside.
- In a pot of boiling water, cook snow peas and edamame until tender-crisp. Drain and rinse under cold water until well chilled; set aside.
- Meanwhile, halve the cucumber lengthwise and use the end of a spoon to scoop and discard seeds; cut cucumber into julienne strips.
- Ginger-Wasabi Dressing: Whisk together rice vinegar, canola oil, soy sauce, lemon juice and zest, brown sugar, sesame oil and ginger. Season with wasabi to taste.
- Add cucumber, snow peas, edamame, napa cabbage, red pepper, green onions andavocado to noodles; toss with enough dressing to coat.
- Garnish with cilantro leaves and black sesame seeds.
Tip: If you have time, you can chill the noodle dish by refrigerating for 1 to 4 hours.
Per serving: 590 calories, 19 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 710 mg sodium,
84 g carbohydrates, 145 g fibre, 13 g sugar, 21 g protein
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51 Comments
Chilled Noodle Salad with Ginger Wasabi Dressing!!
I’d like to try the basil pesto sauce.
Chilled Noodle Salad with Ginger Wasabi Dressing!!
Basil pesto for sure! And the Chilled Noodle Salad with Ginger Wasabi Dressing lol
Basil pesto sounds amazing!
I want to try the Classic Tomato Sauce recipe
would love to try the Basil pesto for sure
All 3 recipes look delicious, but if I could only choose one I would pick the Basil Pesto. I love pesto, and that one just looks soooo good right now! Thank you for the chance!
i love healthy pastas! 😀 excited to try this one
I would love to try the Chef Crawford’s Basil Pesto Sauce.
I would try the Chilled Noodle Salad with Ginger Wasabi Dressing
Pesto!!!!!
Definitely the Basil Pesto sauce!
Umm, this is pretty much everything i love about everything.
I would love to try the Chilled Noodle Salad with Ginger Wasabi Dressing.
Spaghetti and meatballs
I would actually buy this, as I already eat these grains to balance my vegetarian diet. And the raw pesto is already one of my go-to easy dinner recipes!
I`d like to make the Chef Crawford’s Basil Pesto Sauce
I love spaghetti and meatballs! I would love to win the Catelli Healthy Harvest Ancient Grains Pasta!
I love spaghetti and meatballs! I would love to win the Catelli Healthy Harvest Ancient Grains Pasta! I`d like to make the Chef Crawford’s Basil Pesto Sauce, I would actually buy this, as I already eat these grains to balance my vegetarian diet. And the raw pesto is already one of my go-to easy dinner recipes! I would love to try the Chilled Noodle Salad with Ginger Wasabi Dressing. Definitely the Basil Pesto sauce!
of the 3 recipes above i’d choose Chilled Noodle Salad with Ginger Wasabi Dressing first
I’m partial to pesto, so Chef Crawford’s Basil Pesto Sauce definitely appeals to me most!
Pesto Chicken Spaghetti with Chef Crawford’s Basil Pesto Sauce
I’d LOVE
Chef Crawford’s Classic Tomato Sauce!
I would make Chef Crawford’s Basil Pesto Sauce.
I lovee pesto <3
Definitely the Chef Crawford’s Basil Pesto Sauce! I love any type of pesto with pasta!
Classic marinara sauce and add some capers and anchovies and mushroom 😀
I would love to make the basil pesto pasta. I love basil pesto.
the basil pesto sauce sounds great
I would love to try Chef Crawford’s Classic Tomato Sauce recipe!
I would make the Basil pesto sauce – yummy!!
Myself, I prefer a spicy meatball.
Would love a years worth of pasta.My kids would love Mac and cheese every night!
I am interested in the chilled noodle salad recipe. I would like to explore using pasta more in salads not only as mains.
I would love to try the Classic Tomato Sauce recipe
I would make Mac and cheese
i would make the pesto basil recipe
I would totally make the chilled noodle recipe! Yum!
I would make classic spaghetti and meatballs!
I’d love to make the Basil Pesto Sauce.
Chef Crawford’s Classic Tomato Sauce
Chef Crawford’s Classic Tomato Sauce
I would love to make spaghetti and meatballs and linguine with shrimp and scallops.
Basil Pesto makes everything better!
I’d love to try Chef Crawford’s Classic Tomato Sauce.
Chef Crawfords basil pesto has my name written all over it!
I’d make sausage and pepper pasta!
I’d like to try the Chilled Noodle salad
I would make Spaghetti with Meat Sauce