Microwaveable Pasta is Taking Off!
It's been a long time coming, but microwaveable pasta is back and it's doing great. Food processors are using thin-walled, quick-cooking pasta in entrees and side dishes designed to cook in the microwave. The pasta is doing its job and the products are selling.
Ten years ago, several products, including General Foods "Minute Microwave", were introduced using quick-cooking pasta. Generally regarded as having been a little before their time, microwaveable dry entrees and side dishes faded in the early '90's. But now with microwaveable macaroni and cheese selling well across the country and several new product lines about to be introduced by major food companies, pasta has again proven itself in the microwave.
But regular pasta doesn't cook in the microwave: it's too thick. To absorb available water in 3-5 minutes, a thin-walled pasta is needed. At the same time, however, the pasta needs to be strong enough to hold its shape. Additional ingredients such as egg whites and emulsifiers may be needed to improve functionality. And finally, the pasta may need to have a low moisture level to allow it to be packaged with other dry ingredients.
Zerega Pasta originally developed quick-cooking, thin-walled pasta for microwave applications in the 1980's. Now offering even more of these shapes (including rotini, shells, penne and elbows) Zerega is the one source for microwaveable pasta.
Zerega Pasta is one of the largest dry pasta manufacturers in the United States and specializes in meeting the pasta needs of the food processing and food service industries.
For more information call Mark Vermylen, VP, at A. Zerega's Sons, Inc., (201) 797-1400