Product Review: Guzzi’s Pasta Fettuccine/Linguine
It’s said that when Marco Polo returned to Italy from China in the 13th Century, a popular food combining a European element (semolina) and Chinese wisdom (noodles) was born– pasta. Putting the authenticity of this piece of history aside, this pasta is our star of the day – Guzzi’s Pasta Fettuccine/Linguine. Full of premium, natural ingredients, Guzzi’s Fettuccine/Linguine uses 100% semolina durum wheat. It’s much less processed compared with most other traditional dried pastas, which means it retains much more of the goodness from the semolina. It also incidentally contains less carbs.
Both Fettuccine and Linguine come in two varieties: regular and tricolore
To show exactly why I’m loving our product of the week, I’ve compared Guzzi’s Pasta Fettuccine/Linguine with a dried Fettuccine made by another company. This other fettuccine is also quite similar in its nutritional profile to most other dried pasta you’ll find in the supermarket. P.S. There are so many types of pasta – fettuccine, linguine, spaghetti, penne, spiral, macaroni etc. The nutritional information is actually all the same, the only difference is the shape!
Nutrition
Since the information shown on the Nutritional Information Panel for Guzzi’s Fettuccine/Linguine is for when it’s cooked, I’ve first converted the information on our comparison fettuccine from its cooked weight to uncooked (dried) weight for comparison. The average 228g cooked weight equals to 100g uncooked weight. I’ve then compared Guzzi’s Fettuccine/Linguine with other pastas side by side.
The data speaks for itself:
Guzzi’s Fettuccine/Linguine has much less carbs, which makes it a great option if you’re looking to reduce your carb intake without sacrificing the taste of real pasta.
It’s much higher in fibre – it naturally has more than double the amount compared with most other pastas! One serve of Guzzi’s pasta (100g uncooked) contributes significantly to our daily fibre intake, which is great for our gut health. In the product photo you can see small darker flecks in the pasta – these are actually wheat husks which are very high in fibre.
As this pasta is made from durum wheat (100% semolina), it is naturally low GI. To briefly explain GI (i.e. glycemic index), this measures how quickly carbs are turned into blood sugar in your body. The lower the GI, in general, the healthier it is.
It is much less processed as it retains 100% semolina according to the ingredients list. What does this mean? Basically, it means that it retains more nutrients and fibre.
It’s slightly higher in protein, which comes from 9% free range whole eggs (locally sourced). All natural added nutrition!
All Guzzi’s products are naturally dried before packaging (see photo above). Compared with most other pasta companies that heat up their pasta for a quicker packaging process, naturally drying guarantees less nutrients are lost.
Guzzi’s product does not contain any added artificial colours.
So how does it taste?
Compared with other trendy pastas like wholemeal pasta or the new pulse (lentil, chickpea etc) pastas, I found Guzzi’s is softer, more tender and maintains the traditional pasta’s richness and resilience. The rough texture make the sauce cling to the pasta. After it is cooked, they pasta stays al dente. So if you’re looking for delicious pasta that also has some great nutritional benefits, Guzzi’s should be on your list!
Food for thought
To meet Australia’s strict Food Laws, Guzzi’s is constantly required to review their Nutrition Information Panel to show customers the most accurate information. One thing I noticed is that the nutrition information from batch to batch is slightly different. This is not because they are consistently changing their formula, but because of the nature of semolina as a natural crop. For example, when there is a drought in NSW, the semolina tends to have more fibre as it is a bit drier; while as when there are regular rains, the semolina tends to be most moist, therefore containing a bit less fibre proportionally.
Even though Guzzi’s pasta has less carbohydrate, pasta is still a source of carbohydrate. Keep it under a moderate portion is always a good idea.
Availability
Guzzi’s Fettuccine/Linguine is available in Woolworths and Coles all around Australia.