Flax Pasta (Paleo, Gluten/Grain/Corn/Soy/Dairy Free)

Happy, Happy New Year!

I figured it might be fun to kick off 2012 with a recipe that for a long time I thought impossible.  When you go grain free that typically means giving up Pasta, Breads etc.  Something that I’m honestly ok with, as Its seldom that I crave anything like this.  But. I know most people feel different.

When I figured out a way to make Grain free Cinnamon Rolls and most recently Tortillas out of Flax it opened up my mind to a whole new set of recipe ideas. Pasta was a priority, as a basic pasta recipe of course can become ravioli, lasagna and so much more.

This was one of those recipes that I figured out as I went along. I tried a version without the egg and the pasta turned into mush when it was boiling time.  I suspect this recipe is still possible without the egg- but today I don’t have an exact formula for you. If anyone wants to experiment I would try upping the amount of arrowroot starch, and lowering the flax. The higher percentage of starch should really help in holding the pasta together. I have developed several gluten free/vegan pasta recipes in the past and found this technique worked well.

Also, I’m feeling positive that this recipe could be simpler with less ingredients. In my mind less is always better. I ran out of flax (and time to hit the store) today. I’ll be playing around with this recipe and will update this post as I make new discoveries.  The next time I make it I will try two changes: Eliminating the Coconut Flour and replacing it with Arrowroot. The Coconut Flour adds a little texture to the pasta and helps to dry out the dough. I feel positive that arrowroot will have the same effect. The dough should be fairly elastic but not sticky. Keep this in mind if you play with the recipe.

**The most important tip I can offer you is to make sure your flax meal is finely ground. Run it through a coffee grinder like crazy. If it is not fine, the little flecks may give the pasta an odd texture. Though still tasty.. most people don’t expect their pasta to be anything but smooth. **

The texture of this pasta is a little different than grain based based pasta- but still very good! We really enjoyed it. I look forward to using in some other pasta type applications.

Flax Pasta

1/4 Cup Flax Meal + 6 TBS Hot water (to make “flax eggs”)
1 Tbs Applesauce 
1 Large Egg
1 Tsp. Salt
1 1/2 Cup Flax meal
4 Tbs Coconut Flour
1/4 Cup Arrowroot or Tapioca Flour

1. In a bowl combine the first 1/4 Cup of flax meal and the hot water. Mix until it thickens (this mixture is called flax eggs). Then Stir in the Applesauce, Egg and salt.
2. Pour in the remaining flax meal, Coconut flour and Arrowroot. Knead the dough until it becomes a nice cohesive well mixed ball . If it is sticky add a bit more Arrowroot.
3. Bring a pot of water to a boil.
4. Roll the dough out by hand as thin as possible in between two sheet of parchment. Using a sharp knife slice the dough into pasta. (Note: I had better results making this pasta by hand than using my pasta machine)
5. Place the pasta into rapidly boiling water and cook 15-20 seconds. Strain and serve warm. (Rinsing this pasta is optional- as it cools like most pasta does it may stick together a little bit if it is not rinsed, a little oil mixed in will also prevent this)

Serves 2.

Feel free to add any dried spices to the dough for some flavor variation.

xo,

Brittany

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