Mara's pasta comes in a plain brown box, and inside the box is a plastic wrapper to keep the pasta together. It's a deep, dark brown color that is reminiscent of the whole grain it comes from.
Mara's Pasta is made with 100% whole wheat flour, and nothing more. It's a very dark colored pasta, with a smooth, silky texture when dry. Upon opening the box, there is a slight scent of whole wheat, but nothing overpowering. The pasta looks extruded (meaning it was pushed out of a pasta machine as opposed to cutting it), and has a good crunch to it when dry.
The flavor of the spaghetti is quite strong, and it needs a heavy sauce such as a home-made tomato and meat sauce. Pick something with a lot of flavor, as opposed to a delicate alfredo or a light pesto for best results.
Where store-bought whole wheat pastas sometimes have a gritty feeling when you're eating them, Mara's Pasta most definitely does not. The texture is smooth and pleasant, and the pasta itself has the same consistency as a white pasta.
Best of all, Mara's Pasta has only one ingredient: 100% whole wheat. There are no eggs, no sugars, no salts, and definitely no odd sounding chemicals. For such a simple pasta, it really stands up to a taste test.
Rev. Allyson did a series of taste tests on three types of Mara's Pasta, and you can read more about them here:
For more fun, photographs and recipes, as well as a host of simple living ideas, check out Rev. Allyson's simple living blog, The Freehold. It's full of anecdotes and her personal experiences with living more simply and sustainably.
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