Earthy whole grains mix into a pliable gluten-free pasta dough that cooks up smooth with a deep flavor profile that's simultaneously rich and balanced, while also soaking up the flavors of whatever sauce it's tossed in. Gluten-free pasta perfection.
With an independent organic market down my street and countless others within a 10 minute drive of my house, it's easy to forget how spoiled we are with groceries here in the Bay Area. Artisinal ingredients are standard fare and over the years, many of these have become pantry staples in my cooking. So when my market stops carrying one of those ingredients, I FEEL IRRATIONALLY LOST.
(And hungry).
The grocery buyer at the market down my street recently changed hands and with that shift, they stopped stocking three of my favorite ingredients (gasp). Possibly the most tragic of these was a fresh whole grain gluten-free pasta that was pure carb magic.
About two hours before I had friends coming for dinner, I went to the market to grab a pound of said pasta to go with the springtime almond milk alfredo I'd planned, only to discover they stopped stocking it. I spent way too long trying to choose a suitable dried gluten-free fettuccine substitute before deciding that there really wasn't one and if I wanted good pasta, I'd have to make it myself.
So that's what I did.
Now just an hour before friends were set to arrive, I dusted my whole kitchen with flour and cranked out fresh whole grain gluten-free pasta with an on-the-fly knead-by-feel recipe. That first batch was brittle, but we covered it in sauce and pretended things were all good.
Before going gluten-free, I used to make homemade pasta 2-3 times a week. Cutting out gluten posed an interesting challenge for a fresh pasta-lover, one that was sadly met with much less homemade pasta. On occasion I've made gluten-free chickpea pasta and chestnut flour pasta, but until now, I hadn't yet found a great all-purpose neutral gluten-free homemade pasta. Most attempts have turned out brittle or with an overwhelming alternative flour flavor.
This billionth batch, however, achieved that same stretchy texture of gluten-filled homemade pasta thanks to the soft meltiness of teff flour. Earthy whole grains - teff, millet, and amaranth - meld into a pasta that is somehow simultaneously filled with deep flavor, while also soaking up the tastes of whatever sauce it's tossed in. Here I've served it in the most simple preparation: butter, olive oil, parmesan, salt & pepper, and fresh herbs.
See it in action with a lightened up almond milk fettuccine alfredo (+ wine pairing!) that uses this whole grain gluten-free pasta as the base.
Thanks for reading Snixy Kitchen! To stay up on what’s coming out of my kitchen, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Bloglovin’, or Pinterest, or subscribe via e-mail to get new recipes right to your inbox.
Recipe
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (106 g) teff flour
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons (78 g) millet flour
- ½ cup + 1 tablespoons (70 g) Bob's Red Mill tapioca flour
- ⅓ cup (44 g) sweet rice flour, also called "mochiko" - different from "white rice flour" or "brown rice flour"
- ¼ cup (30 g) amaranth flour
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Water, as needed
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a large bowl or the bowl of stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, whisk together the teff flour, millet flour, tapioca flour, sweet rice flour, amaranth flour, xanthan gum, and salt.
- Create a well in the middle of the flour and crack the eggs into the middle. Add the olive oil.
- Use the dough hook of the stand mixer to gently mix the eggs together with the flour on low speed, or, if doing so by hand, use a fork to lightly whisk the eggs together in the middle of the well, then begin mixing it all together with the flour.
- Once it's well mixed, use the dough hook or your hands to knead until it forms a dough. If the the mixture feels too dry, add ½ teaspoon of water at a time while kneading. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic, but not very sticky. If you find it too sticky, add another teaspoon of teff flour until it reaches the desired texture.
- Roll the dough into a ball and lightly flatten into a disk. Cut into 6 pieces and wrap the dough in plastic to let it rest for 20 minutes or so.
- Bring 3-quarts of water to boil in a large pot with a teaspoon of salt.
- Use your hands to press one piece at a time on a lightly teff-floured surface until it is about ¼-inch thick, reserving the other pieces in plastic wrap under a towel.
- With a pasta roller or rolling pin, roll out each piece into a thin sheet, lightly dusting both sides with teff flour as you go. If using the KitchenAid pasta roller attachment, send the dough through setting 1, fold it in half, then send it again. Repeat until it feeds through smooth, then reduce the thickness one stop and roll to a 2 or 3 thickness. Dust each side with teff flour before cutting.
- Either by hand or using the fettuccine cutter attachment, cut each sheet into noodles. Place noodles in a nest on a teff-floured baking sheet while rolling out the rest.
- Drop the noodles into the boiling water and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain the pasta in a colander and gently toss it with a bit of olive oil to keep it from sticking together.
- Serve with your favorite sauce! (Here I've just tossed it with some simple butter, olive oil, parmesan, salt, pepper, and fresh herbs!)
Alanna -
Ahhhh these photos are amazing and so is this pasta!! Thank you for making me a bowl! I can't wait to try this at home. <3
Karen @ The Food Charlatan -
This pasta is so beautiful!!! I'm so sad for you that they stopped stocking your favorite though. That's a bummer. It's fun to make your own but it's also nice to just have it ready sometimes. Although you are like 100x more ambitious than me, I've only made homemade pasta once! oops. I'm trying to eat Whole 30 meals (interspersed with cookies. because balance.) so I'm craving pasta like crazy.
Todd Wagner | HonestlyYUM -
I see you GF pasta, I see you . . . and you're looking goooooooood!! :P
Beautiful photos, Sarah!
Makos@thehungrybites -
Great pasta recipe Sarah!
Will try it soon!
Lynn | The Road to Honey -
Wow Sarah! All I can say is you are one brave chica to make pasta one hour before guests arrive. I have to admit that I am not that brave.
But this pasta. . .it looks so beautiful. And since the Mr and I have started to train for the Super Spartan (I'm still on the fence whether I am actually going to do the race) we have started to eat more whole grain pasta. This is perfect.
christine desroches -
Sarah, you never cease to impress. This pasta looks so amazing, it looks like all your testing and experimenting have paid off! Do you ever make pasta with a regular rolling pin, or is some sort of specific pasta-making tool/attachment necessary? by my question, you can probably tell I've never attempted it myself! Also serious kudos for throwing together homemade gf pasta just an hour before guests arrive - you are a superstar.
Sarah Menanix -
You know, I think you COULD make it by rolling pin, but I use a pasta sheet roller that's an attachment for the KitchenAid. I remember the first time I tried to make gluten-filled pasta way back in the day, I tried it with a rolling pin but just didn't have enough strength to get it thin. Then my landlady came to the rescue with a hand-crank pasta roller that she lent me. The gluten-free pasta is a little less....elasticy? than the regular pasta so it might be easier to roll out by hand! And thank you so much!! :*
Alicia -
I rolled it with a rolling pin but cut the eggs down to three because it already seemed wet enough. Worked great, I even tried cutting the sheet into squares and made tortellini!
Traci | Vanilla And Bean -
I was mesmerized reading through your post.. constantly distracted from the text to gaze at your captures of this gorgeous pasta! I find that too... if you just want good xyz, you gotta make it yourself (save the most of fabulous restaurants). And like you, I enjoy it! The challenge and the fun... I've yet to make my own pasta with a pasta roller. The most I've done with a pasta roller is roll out fondant :/ ... so this must change. Alanna turned me on to teff... so I know the flavor must be over the top in these noodles! Delicious and gorgeous work Sarah! :D
Eva -
Is it possible to Substitute xantham gum. With psyllium maybe. Thank you. Very interesting combination of flour mix.
Sarah Menanix -
I have not yet tested this recipe with the psyllium addition, but I have tested it without xanthan gum. The results were very crumbly and the noodles didn't hold together when pressed through the rollers and/or cooked. Instead they broke into smaller pieces. I did test psyllium for my almond flour pasta and here's what I found in that testing: "I’ve made a version of this gluten-free almond flour pasta that substitutes the xanthan gum for 1 tablespoon psyllium seed husks. The dough is more delicate to work with and to eat than the version with xanthan gum – it will break apart a bit when cooked if rolled too thin.
For that substitution, you’ll need to let the dough rest 10-15 minutes after you roll it together to let the psyllium seed husks soak up some of the moisture and help with the elasticity. Additionally, don’t roll the dough out quite as thin. You can roll it through the pasta maker only on a size 1. However, I recommend hand-rolling this more delicate version with a rolling pin using the alternative method shown here." (See that post for the pictures of that method!) If you do try this one with the psyllium husks, please report back and let me know your experience! I'd love to have an option for folks who wishing/needing to avoid xanthan gum.
Julie -
Hello!
Just found Your post. New to gluten free cooking. I had just stopped eating it, because of the side effects were pretty bad. But I crave my bread and pasta, so I'm trying to "reinvent the wheel", and retrain my cooking brain.
Everything look s great, but, I have one question......
Can You substitute a Flax egg in this? Gluten and eggs, are on my "can't eat" list.
Thank You for Your time.
Sarah Menanix -
I've not tried a flax egg in pasta so I can't say for certain, but my guess is that it wouldn't work - the egg really holds it all together. If you do try it though, please let me know how it works!
Jodie Ferrel -
Can Guar gum be substituted for the xanthan gum?
Sarah Menanix -
I'm afraid I don't have any experience with guar gum so I can't say for certain whether it would work! If you try it, please let me know if it works as a suitable substitute!
Deb -
I got the pasta tool as a gift for my kitchenaid mixer adventures. We cut back on pasta to about 3 servings a month prior to the gifted tools. We are not gluten affected. However, I want to incorporate a variety of grains into our diet rather than just enriched flour so I am excited to try this out.
I think I might do half this flour and half regular enriched flour to start and then decrease over subsequent batches.
Rachel -
this looks great but I am on the Candida diet so I can't have any rice flour or tapioca starch. Is there a non-starchy substitute I could use? I can have eggs, millet flour, amaranth flour, and teff flour; also psyllium, chia, etc. Or do you know what would happen if I left the starchy flours out?