Quinoa

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) is the seed of an Andean plant of the amaranth family. It is not a cereal grass but a pseudocereal, and in pasta it is used as a gluten-free flour alongside maize and rice.

Quinoa has been grown around Lake Titicaca for thousands of years, and Bolivia and Peru are by far the largest producers (FAOSTAT). The United Nations declared 2013 the International Year of Quinoa, and FAO highlights it as a crop that tolerates frost, drought and poor soils.

The seeds are coated with bitter saponins, which are removed by washing or abrasion before cooking or milling. Raw quinoa contains about 14 g of protein and 7 g of fibre per 100 g (USDA FoodData Central), and its protein supplies all the essential amino acids, including lysine, which is scarce in cereals.

In gluten-free pasta, quinoa flour is usually a minor ingredient that improves nutrition and flavour. Granoro Gluten Free is made from rice flour, white and yellow corn flour and 3% quinoa flour; Delverde Gluten Free combines corn, rice and quinoa flour; Garofalo Pasta Senza Glutine is based on maize and rice with potato starch and quinoa. Quinoa adds a slightly nutty, vegetal note and helps the pasta stay firm.

Quinoa is naturally gluten-free and is not among the 14 allergens that must be highlighted in the EU. Pasta may be labelled "gluten-free" only if it contains no more than 20 mg of gluten per kilogram (Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014), so people with coeliac disease should look for that wording on the pack.