Gluten-Free Homemade Pasta

I love pasta. I didn’t really care for it before I began my gluten-free life, but the number of items that I formerly disliked and now crave with a passion is quite endless. Pasta is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s like reverse psychology – hated it before. Can’t have it now. So now I crave it with a passion.

When I stood in the health food store after my celiac diagnosis, the only gluten-free pasta I could find was made from brown rice. It was, in a word – gross. Slimy and slick, each strand brought to mind strips of cooked blubber and turned my stomach. It didn’t matter whether it was cooked al dente or if I followed the directions to a T. The end result was gag-inducing. To this day, I will not eat brown rice pasta. The trauma of past experience has ruined me forever.

With the brown price being a disaster, I next tried corn pasta. While this was far superior to the brown rice version, it had an odd flavor and as I have issues with corn, it just didn’t sit well with me. However, as I was determined to enjoy pasta, I suffered with the gastric side-effects and strong flavor and ate corn pasta a few times each year. I figured that “normal” pasta was a thing of the past. It was a few years before I stumbled across a potato and white rice blend pasta and was able to finally enjoy an almost-normal tasting pasta dish.

Joy!

But in the back of my mind, there was a constant niggling… if these companies could make pasta from rice and potato flour, it stood to reason that I could as well. I had made pasta quite frequently in my gluten days and I was hopeful that one day I could conquer gluten-free pasta making.

One day while wandering around Linens and Things, I found a Kitchen Aid pasta attachment set on clearance. Did I need a more clear sign? No. I purchased the set and set out to create pasta nirvana.

I figured I would end up doing dozens of batches before I succeeded but to my utter astonishment, my first batch was sheer perfection. Apart from tiny pieces that were the result of ragged edges (lesson learned there), with just a few eggs and some flour I was able to successfully create a delicious batch of fettucini. My pasta-loving-husband sucked down his serving and declared it a major success. It tasted just like the pasta I used to make back in the gluten days and there was no weird aftertaste. No odd texture. He adored it.

Making pasta is very easy. No really, it is! It requires just 3-4 ingredients and can be done in just over an hour. Gluten-free flour, eggs, olive oil (optional), salt. That’s it. You can also add a variety of spices and vegetables to make spinach pasta, sun-dried tomato pasta, basil pasta, etc. That is for another day – this post focuses on the joy of the plain old egg pasta. No fancy additions.

You start by making a mound of your flour with a hole in the middle. Sprinkle a few pinches of salt and then crack the eggs into the center hole along with a bit of olive oil. Use your hands to combine the flour and work it and the eggs/oil into a dough. This takes a bit of time, maybe 5 minutes or so, but it’s not difficult to do and I find it very relaxing. Work the mixture until it comes together into a ball. Something like a giant batch of silly putty. The end result should not be sticky – if it is, add a touch more flour and work it in.

Cover the main ball with a damp rag – you don’t want it to dry out while you’re working with it. Tear off a piece the size of a golf ball and roll it into a smooth ball. Stick this through the roller of your pasta machine (I’m using an attachment on my Kitchen Aid. You can also use a manual hand-crank model such as the Atlas) a few times. The more it is played with and rolled out, the stretchier and more elastic it becomes. I typically run each piece through 10-12 times, folding in half after each run and sticking that through before folding in half and running it through again.

Once you have it to the desired thickness (I prefer 3 on my KA attachment – this makes for a strand of pasta that has a nice bite and chew to it..) lay each strip on a flat surface and cover with a damp cloth. This keeps the dough from drying out while you press the remainder of the batch. At this time I also trim the ends and sides so the piece has straight sides. Uneven edges will result in bits of pasta flaking off when you run it through the cutter.

Once all the dough is rolled out into strips, it’s time to cut it. You can do this with a kitchen knife or you can run it through your machine. Because I cannot cut a straight line if my life depended on it, I prefer to use my attachment and get a perfect, even cut on all my strands. If you’re handy with a knife and have the ability to cut straight, well, I envy you and there is no need for you to fiddle with a cutting attachment. Consider yourself fortunate…

After the pasta has been cut, lightly sprinkle with flour and toss it a bit to coat each strand before lying it flat to dry. Or, if you’re going to be boiling it right away, you can gently toss them into a loose pile. Watch it though – they will stick if left in this position for too long.

Boil in a large pot with a few Tbl of olive oil and a dash of salt. Your gluten-free homemade pasta needs just a few minutes to cook, 4-6, depending on how chewy you like it. I typically boil mine for 5 minutes. This gives a delightful bite that dried pasta simply can never emulate. Be sure to get a rolling boil before adding the pasta and stir a few times to break up any strands that may be sticking together.

Strain and serve immediately. This is fabulous with just olive oil and a few sun-dried tomatoes. Or olive oil and a few cloves of garlic, diced. Or just plain butter. Of course, it’s also delicious with marinara and grated cheese. Quite simply, this is fabulous regardless of how you serve it.

Homemade Gluten-Free Pasta
serves 4, generously

3 cups gluten-free flour
3 eggs (may need a few more…)
2 Tbl olive oil, optional
1 tsp salt

Toss flour with salt and pour into a mound on parchment paper, your countertop, or a rolling mat.

Crack 3 eggs into center and add olive oil if desired. Begin to mix with your hands, adding additional eggs if needed to create a smooth ball of dough that is similar to silly putty.

Knead on a flat surface, no flour needed, dough should not be sticky, for 5 minutes until ball is smooth.

Follow directions above…

Enjoy your labor. Gluten-free pasta is so easy to make, anyone can do it. And it’s much cheaper than the store-bought dried version.