There are some corn/rice pastas that are pretty close to the real deal. Sure a seasoned pasta officianado could tell the difference, but we have gluten intolerant in the house so predominantly eat gluten free pastas. Never had a visitor or kids friends complaining (and kids will complain about anything). Happily chow down. There are also some pretty good grain free varieties made from tapioca and egg, we get lasagne sheets that are approved of by the only real Italian I known, they maintain the chewy/rubbery texture of lasagne well.
Pasta is the only thing I don't miss.
I recently found some pasta made with 100% red lentils, rice or peas, which is really good, I can gladly offer it to people.
They cost a premium but the state gives us around 100€ a month to spend, and I don't eat that much gluten free stuff. Pizza on the other hand makes me sad ;(
The very article you're commenting on says "gluten free" pasta (or at least the one type of Barilla spaghetti they tested) becomes the "real deal" when boiled with salt, which you should be doing anyways.
Yeah, the Rummo Gluten Free pasta is just on another level in the UK vs the own-brand stuff. Thank goodness!
I buy Jovial which is a just straight brown rice flour and as long as you cook it right (which in Albuquerque is a problem with wheat pasta too) it's great.
You don't need the wheat protein 'gluten' to make pasta at all.
You do need some kind of protein. Carbohydrate hydration is a reversible process whose other endpoint is a solution, while (most) protein coagulation is a non-reversible polymerization process that creates an insoluble matrix. The less protein is available, the easier it is to "overcook" pasta into goop and then a starchy beverage. You see it in cooking the two common varieties of 'normal pasta' already - egg durum wheat pasta has more protein than pure durum wheat pasta, and is much harder to overcook.