Home made GF Pasta! -- I'm in love!

I have had two pasta machines for years now, picked them both up at different times at yard sales and was always going to 'get a round tuit' but never did. I guess I could never find the semolina flour that is required for a good fresh pasta, so I never tried. But I got tired of paying $4 a bag for GF pasta that just fell apart most times and just didn't have the 'tooth' that real pasta does.

See I grew up in an adopted Italian family. Half Jewish, half Catholic. I watched my grandmother making all kinds of pasta and sauces, never using pork, but instead chicken for the tortellini, and only steak in the sauce. But I never got around to trying it myself, outside of the boxed pastas.

So much to my surprise when I got my newest edition to my GF library home ( GF Gourmet), I discovered a recipe for home made GF pasta, and not only that but one that has the 'bite' I've been looking for.

So if you are like me and were hooked on good Italian food, this is the recipe for you.

First time set aside a day where you have about 3 hours total ( to gather, mix, and try out the different kinds and clean up). And I guarantee, if you have even the least cooking skills, you won't be sorry! your family may be , because if you taste them before they get to, they may not get any!


This recipe is simple but you need a little time and patience to make the formed pastas, like ravioli, tortellini, etc.

I plan on developing a kreplach recipe with this and also for those familiar with the rolled dumplings and chicken, I have undertaken that as well.

So here it is.

1/3 cup each of

garbanzo bean and fava bean flour, or just garbanzo if that is what you have *you can't substitute the bean flour for another though, it won't be the same

tapioca flour and cornstarch

2 tbls Xanthum Gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
1/2 cup egg beater pasteurized eggs ( less possibility of contamination while working with dough, or 2 eggs

Extra cornstarch for your 'flour' for kneading and rolling out

In med to large bowl combine all dry ingredients. in a small bowl whisk together the eggs and oil. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and beat in until all flour absorbed. It will form a ball. Lightly flour your surface ( a table or surface lower than your counter helps with the rolling out) using a fine sieve and gently pouncing it over the surface. Now put the ball of dough in the middle and sprinkle some cornstarch on top of this and your hands. Knead the ball adding cornstarch as needed, until it handles well with out sticking.

Now you will need to roll this out.


CAUTION!!! If you have a dedicated pasta machined that hasn't ever been used for gluten flour doughs, you can use that , but be advised, even though it may look clean there are parts of the machine that harbor flour that can add it to your dough while it goes through the rollers so don't use, unless you have taken it apart and cleaned it thoroughly! If you have used it previously to your diagnosis, then if you really can't afford a new one, try using this tutorial to clean it out throughly and be very judicious to do so!

http://www.sculpey.com/Projects/projects_CleaningPastaMachines.htm

I realize this is a site for polymer clay ( that is what I used my other pasta machine for! ) but it has great instructions, and lots of pictures and takes you step by step to find all the hidden places gluten ( flour) could hid in there).


So if you don't have a pasta machine, but do and it's not clean, you will need a rolling pin. Now because this dough is made with bean flour it is a bit tougher to roll, but not that hard. Start by flattening the ball with your hand and then using the rolling pi, roll first in one direction, turn the dough, and then the other, you want to roll this until it's very thin, less than about 1/16". Now you will have to decide what to do with it. First I recommend making noodles. Using a pizza cutter ( I have the large wheel and it's perfect for this) . Make cuts up the pasta about every 1/4 to 1/2 inch. This will make nice thick noodle. You can just boil these up with a little oil added to the water, for 5-7 minutes( taste after 5 to see if you like the doneness) and add anything from a little butter and salt, to some Parmesan cheese, or shredded cheddar, and a few herbs, to tomato sauce, or white sauce, or put them in prepared soup!

If you are more adventurous, then cut them in sizes to make lasagna, or tripling the recipe , use one of the fillings below to make stuffed pastas, like raviolis.

This pasta is wonderful. you can eat it now, or freeze to cook later. But try this, I guarantee you won't be sorry!

I'll be adding different ways to use this wonderful pasta in the days to come, so keep checking back!

Use the above recipe for the dough, but triple all the ingredients.

This will make a large ball of dough but if you've practiced with the smaller batch and made some noodles, you won't have any problem.

Just mix up 1/2 to 3/4 cup of ricotta cheese with 4 tbls mixed shreadded mozzarella and cheddar cheese. Add to this some salt ( about 1/8 teas) and a couple shakes of dried basil. If you have fresh basil, save it for the topping. Now mix these up with a little egg ( break large egg into a small bowl, and beat together with 1 scant tbls water) now use about 1/2 to 2/3 of this poured into the cheese mixture, save the rest for the pasta sealing. Now put this in a small zipper lock bag and snip off the very end of it ( in the corner) this is to facilitate squeezing it onto the pasta pieces.

If you have a ravioli maker sheet, you can use this, but I found it more time consuming. so just roll out your dough in as squared a rectangle shape as you can get, very thin remember. Now. you need to work fast as you don't want your dough to dry out , then it will break and the filling will pop out.

Once your rectangle is rolled out, you want to cut about 1/3 off the bottom, this you will use to put the cheese on and top with the other 2/3. If you need to , mark off lightly with a butter knife square, about 2 inches by 2 inches. You should have a nice grid. in the center of each square on the grid squeeze out a bit of the cheese mixture. You don't want to use too much or you won't get a good seal. About the size of a lg hazelnut or small pecan, or and olive is a good measurement. Once all the squares are filled . Take your pastry brush and gently paint the egg wash inbetween on the grid lines. Now take your sheet of dough left over and gently place it evenly on top of the cheese topped dough. You want to start in the center and press down gently from the first one from the cheese and down to get out any air, and work your way out until all are pressed down. Now using a pasta roller/cutter, or a pasty wheel, cut the individula raviolis free, first one way then the other.

Cook them in boiling water to which a litte bit of olive oil has been added for about 15-18 minutes. Then serve with whatever sauce you want! Or just some butter and grated cheese! Yum!

These can also be frozen without cooking and cooked later, adding about 3-4 mintues to the cooking time.

Theze are so good, I ate them straight out of the pot with no salt, butter or anything else!

Recipes for

Turkey Ravioli with sage cream sauce ( yep, not a Rabbinical Kosher recipe)
Pumpkin or sweet potato ravioli with pecans and white parmesan sauce
Meat filled Ravioli with directions to make into Kreplach or pot stickers!
Rolled Chicken Pot Pie
Pirogies, cheese and potato!


And More!..............................