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Now, let's get down to the basics of gluten-free pasta
(bright upbeat music)
So, the first and easiest option
for gluten-free pasta is store-bought.
These can vary wildly and quality flavor and texture.
So, we taste tested a few brands
and the winner by a wide margin was this brand, Pasta Joy,
whose flavor and texture were almost indistinguishable
from its glutinous counterparts.
And it's available on Thrive Market convenient
but sometimes life calls for fresh pasta.
And before we get too nitty gritty
with a totally from scratch recipe,
I wanted to see if we just grab
some of this one-to-one gluten-free all purpose flour,
and see if we could use it the way we would regular flour
to make pasta.
So, we're gonna start by measuring out
12 ounces of gluten-free flour,
adding a couple of big old pinches of kosher salt,
and tiny whisking to combine
before adding eight ounces worth of eggs.
This is the normal flours to egg ratio
that I use for pasta, but I quickly discovered
the first way that gluten-free flour does not translate.
Because instead of forming a soft supple dough,
this mixture quickly turned into a paste.
So, I added a little bit more flour
until it got the right consistency
and then turn things over to a stand mixer
where I wanted to knead the dough.
Now, this might seem counterintuitive
given that this is gluten-free flour
and therefore, has no gluten to develop
but my theory or rather hope was that,
we would develop the starch in the dough,
making it sturdy and giving the pasta
the characteristic chew that we're looking for.
So, once we've allowed the dough to be kneaded
for about five minutes,
I'm just gonna give it a few kneads by hand
to get a feel for it, so to speak.
Then we're gonna wrap it in plastic wrap
and fridge it for 30 minutes.
After that, we're ready to get rolling.
I'm gonna subdivide the dough and do a few pieces,
then roll it out a little bit by hand to test its strength
that right off the bat, not off to a good start.
Once again, in an effort to develop the starch
in a roll it out and laminate it,
that is rolled out and folded on itself many, many times
before attempting to pass it through the pasta roller
which as you can see, resulted in a crumbly disaster.
So, let's take another crack at this time
using Bob's Red Mill one-to-one gluten-free flour.
This stuff has a higher starch content,
so I'm hoping that it will do the trick.
And after using the exact same recipe and method,
it did, the flour held its shaped, albeit delicately
through the rollers and through the cutters.
It was however, as you can see,
very fragile and rather sticky
and early indicator that it's gonna have a gummy texture.
After cooking briefly for two to three minutes
or until floating, this theory was sadly proven correct.
Not only was the pasta kind of sticky and gummy,
it was also very, very fragile.
So, while one-to-one gluten-free flour
might be okay for baking,
it doesn't really work for pasta applications.
I'm also not sure about the spaghetti form factor.
It kind of turns into a naughty ball of ramen.
So, let us start work on our own
custom gluten-free pasta flour blend,
15 ounces of brown rice flour,
12 ounces of white rice flour,
six ounces of potato starch,
three ounces of tapioca starch,
and about one tablespoon of xanthan gum,
whisk until completely combined,
keep it in an airtight container
and busted out whenever you wanna make some
of the fresh stuff.
When that day comes,
the ratio for this flower is 14 ounces
of our gluten-free flour blend.
The big old pinch of kosher salt, tiny whisk in there
and eight ounces of eggs.
This should yield a nice soft workable dough
that we're gonna need in our stand mixer
using the paddle attachment for about five minutes.
This should in theory develop the starch
and give our pasta more toothsome al dente texture.
No need to wrap, fridge or rest,
just subdivided into four workable pieces
and start rolling out and cutting
by virtue of your pasta roller and cutter.
And like I said, spaghetti didn't work so hot,
so we're gonna use a fettuccine cutter.
The outside of the dough is gonna have some rough edges
but these should just fall away as you cut.
Once it's out of the machine,
we're gonna heavily dust with flour and twist into a nest.
Rinse and repeat with the remaining pasta
and then this stuff is ready to put
to use in your favorite fresh pasta application.
I've been testing everybody out with just butter and salt
but why don't we put this straight to use an actual recipe.
The classic pasta aglio e olio.
I'm gonna dump about three tablespoons
worth of high quality olive oil
into large saute pan,
thinly shave two or three large cloves of garlic
into the cold oil
and then placed over medium, medium low heat.
Allowing the garlic to gently bubble and cook
and turn ever so slightly brown.
More of a blonde than a brown really.
Dumped your pasta in some awaiting boiling water,
let it cook for two to three minutes until it floats,
keep it moving initially so it doesn't stick together.
Take the garlic off the heat as necessary,
so it doesn't burn.
And when the pasta is done,
go ahead and dump it straight into the oil,
along with the garlic
and between a quarter and a third
of a cup of pasta cooking water.
We're also gonna add the squeezing juice of one lemon.
Allow the pasta to cook for about one more minute
in this mixture before adding a big old handful
of freshly chopped parsley.
Toss everybody together until the sauce is thick
and emulsified and almost creamy.
Kill the heat and generously season with kosher salt
and freshly ground black pepper,
maybe some red pepper flakes if you're feeling spicy.
Give her one last toss together.
And there you have it, gluten-free pasta aglio e olio.
And as you can imagine,
I kind of have to twist it up with the carving fork
from the movie "Chef"
and anything else would be sacrilegious.
And the only thing left to do
is hold it up to the camera for the thumbnail
and give it a taste.
And I got to say, almost indistinguishable
from its glutinous counterpart.
It's too thin, it's not sticky,
it's light and bouncy, it has a nice neutral flavor
and it's perfect for all your GFFs or gluten-free friends.
Thanks again to Thrive Market for sponsoring this episode.
If you watch the show,
you'll notice many of my groceries are from Thrive Market.
They make it easy to order high quality
and sustainable products
and grocery home supplements and more.
You can also easily shop by diets and values,
like fair trade certified non-GMO, keto and more.
All in one place.
Even better through Thrive gives,
every paid membership sponsors a free membership
for a low income family.
Had to thrivemarket.com/bingingwithbabish
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you'll get 25% off your first order and a free gift.
The link is in the video description.
(gentle bright upbeat music)