Trader Giotto's Organic Red Lentil Sedanini

I have nothing against spaghetti squash, zoodles, or carrot spirals. They are delicious and quite healthy, but let's not fool ourselves or anyone else into thinking that a vegetable can actually BE pasta. There is a world of difference between acting like pasta and being pasta. I feel the captain obvious need to point that out in a world of "alternative facts." :P 

Unlike said vegetables, which are cultivated from the ground, somebody has to make gluten-free pasta from some kind of flour - because it actually is pasta. Does it mean that it's good pasta? Well that part is up to debate. Social media loves the gluten-free pastas that TJ's has to offer. Me? I've been to wary to touch the black bean or brown rice pasta, mainly because I had one gross encounter with a non-TJ's brown rice pasta years ago and I prefer not to go through that again. But still, this was requested so I picked it up to try. 

The protein content is pretty impressive - 13grams, so decent for you vegetarians/vegans out there. Also a product of Italy, apparently, sooo that definitely raises this product's credibility. 

And it only takes 5-6 minutes to cook! Perfect for quick meals! But be careful not to overcook because that's where you run into bad textural issues. 

I happened to be quite busy recently and craved pasta. Like everyday. So I ate this for a few days in a row until the pasta was finished. Cooked it with said salty sausage in an average marinara sauce and made sure to add kale for fiber. I realize gluten-free pastas have this rep for a gritty/chalky texture. The textural issues are kind of inevitable wherever non-white flour is involved. However, I didn't find the texture here to be that bad. A didn't care for the texture, but this isn't something I expected him to enjoy at all. Actually, the al dente-ness was in my opinion about as close as you can get to a regular al dente texture, provided that you don't overcook this. The grittiness is very slight, and the ridges in the pasta hold onto sauce pretty decently. This doesn't carry too much of a lentil flavor either, which allows your sauce flavor to shine. Other than that, I don't really much other glowing things to say. It's not bad at all but not a super amazing pasta for me personally. 

$2.99 for 12 oz puts this at $4/lb. Kind of expensive if you can eat regular pasta but choose not to in order to "eat healthier." But not terrible if you have to eat gluten-free for whatever health issue and the alternative is no pasta. So consider carefully what your budget needs and food needs/cravings are and decided whether or not it's right for you. And maybe consult a doctor or a nutritionist or something if you're considering any diet for health reasons...because people should use the internet for education purposes, maybe, but not for self-diagnosing, maybe. Healthcare rant over. :P 

TL;DR: Trader Giotto's Organic Red Lentil Sedanini. Gluten-free penne-esque pasta that actually isn't too bad. 6 out of 10.