Homemade Gluten Free Classic Egg Pasta Food

HOMEMADE GLUTEN-FREE CLASSIC EGG PASTA

Steps:

• Most people will tell you to work on a large, clean work surface; if you want to do that, great. If you don't want dough everywhere, and want an easier time mixing your dough I recommend a wide mouth bowl as long as the bottom is flat and at least 8" across. I used the largest of this set. From there, pour flour in a mound - then use your fingers to push flour out of the center, into a "well." Make the well in the center about 4 inches wide. In separate bowls, separate eggs then combine the wet ingredients and beat with a fork. Pour lightly beaten eggs and salt into well. Use the fork to scoop the edge of the flour into the center of the well, a little bit at a time, gently beating and combining the eggs and flour as you turn the bowl. If you don't use a bowl, you'll need to rotate your arm around the flat surface... see why I recommend breaking with tradition?! When combined, gradually incorporate flour into the eggs until a wet, sticky dough has formed. About half way through your dough will start to come together well, and then about 3/4 through will start to get too crumbly to combine. That's when to dump it out onto the working surface and start to combine with your hands.
• Using your hands, scrape excess dough from fork and fingers out of the bowl. Begin to fold remaining flour from the bowl into the dough, turning the dough roughly 45 degrees each time, not yet pressing the dough out but working the smaller crumbs of dough into the ball until about 95% is in the ball, 2 to 5 minutes. You don't want to overwork the dough and still have the true working of the dough next, so do this as gently and quicky as you can to simply combine flour with eggs.
• Next, sprinkle a tad of flour on the surface if it's porous, to prevent dough from sticking. Once combine, press the heel of your hand into the ball of dough, pushing forward and down and into and upward motion as you push fully out. Then with the tips of your fingers pull that edge back into the ball, folding in on itself. Rotate the ball 45 degrees and repeat; about 8-12 times total; until dough develops a smooth texture similar Play-Doh. If dough feels too wet, add flour in 1 teaspoon increments. If dough feels too dry, add egg yolk 1/4 of a yolk at a time.
• For gluten pasta you wrap in plastic and let rest for the proteins to develop. GOOD NEWS, we don't need to do any of that. GF pasta actually ends up being more quick and easy because of this!
• If working on a porous surface, place a sheet of parchment paper on a tray or cutting board and dust lightly with flour. I used granite that has been properly sealed and had no issues working on the surface and didn't even need to dust with flour. Be aware as you work and see if the dough is drying out from too much dusted flour (don't want that) or sticking to the surface (and needs a dusting). Cut dough ball into quarters. Set one quarter on work surface and cover remaining dough with slightly damp towel. With a rolling pin, flatten the quarter of dough into an oblong shape about 1/2 inch thick. The goal here is as long and evenly flat as possible.
• Set pasta maker to widest setting (8) and pass dough 2 times through the machine at this setting with your Kitchen Aid mixer on level 4 for motor speed (we will maintain this speed throughout).
• If your dough stays together and doesn't tear at the edges, you're ready to go to the next step. If it is pulling and separating, you want to make the dough less wide, and try again. You would fold both ends in so that they meet at the center of the dough, and then fold the dough in half where the end points meet, trying not to incorporate too much air into the folds. Using rolling pin, flatten dough to 1/2-inch thick. The key here is reducing width, so press the torn edge inward and combine with the layer it just combined with. Then, when the shape is thin enough, and less wide, pass through the rollers again (2 times at width 8).
• Narrow the setting by 1 double notch (6) and repeat Step 7. Ideally, not needing to roll out any further at this point. For us, at level 6 we ran it through, reduced the width to 4, then ran it through again. Continue passing the dough through the rollers, reducing the thickness each time until it reaches the desired thickness. We recommend stopping at 4 if you're going to use a pasta cutting attachment, or going from a 4 to a 3 if making your own and cutting by hand (like ravioli, lasagna, or wide noodles) It should now be very delicate, and slightly translucent.
• Place rolled dough onto a work surface, loosely folding the dough over as necessary so that it fits; cover with the slightly damp cloth until ready to cook or store.
• Keep dough covered with slightly damp kitchen towel to prevent drying, then repeat Steps 5 through 9 with remaining dough quarters. If making noodles, cut dough to preferred size segments (12-14" long is recommended).
• Adjust pasta machine to noodle setting of your choice. Working one dough segment at a time, feed dough through the pasta-cutter. Alternatively, cut folded dough by hand with a chef's knife to desired noodle width.
• Divide the cut noodles into individual portions and curl into a nest. return under towel until ready to cook. Pasta can be refrigerated for 48 hours (the eggs are raw, don't eat them or leave them in the open air) or frozen directly on the baking sheet, transferred to a zipper-lock freezer bag, and stored in the freezer for up to three weeks before cooking. Cook frozen pasta directly from the freezer.
• Bring a large pot of very salty water to a rolling boil. Add oil before adding in the pasta. There's no flavor in this pasta, you've got to add it to the water, trust me; and the oil will help prevent sticking! Add pasta, stir gently with a spider, wooden spoon, chopsticks, or a cooking fork, and cook, tasting at regular intervals until noodles are just set with a definite bite, about 1 minutes. Drain, toss with oil or butter, then sauce, and serve.

FRESH EGG PASTA-GLUTEN FREE

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, combine flours, salt, and xanthan gum.
• Beat the eggs lightly and add the oil.
• Pour the egg-oil liquid into the flour mixture and stir.
• This will feel much like pastry dough.
• Work the dough into a firm ball.
• Knead for 1 or two minutes.
• Place the ball of dough on a potato starch-floured (rice flour turns noodles gray) breadboard and roll as**thin as possible**.
• This dough is tough and, when almost transparent, will still handle well.
• Cut into desired shape.
• For fettuccine and spaghetti, slice very thin strips.
• For a noodle casserole, make slightly wider noodles.
• If using for lasagne, cut into 1 1/2-by-4-inch rectangles.
• To cook pasta: Cook in salted boiling water, to which 1 tablespoon of oil has been added, for about 10 to 12 minutes depending on the thickness and size of your pieces.
• You will have to test for doneness.
• Drain and rinse well.

GLUTEN FREE EGG PASTA

Steps:

• Combine the flours and xanthan gum in a large mixing bowl. You can also do this on the table (as is traditional) but I always get excited and under-form my flour well. Either way, form a well in the flour and add in the eggs. Use a whisk to break up the yolks, and then begin to incorporate the eggs into the flour.
• Once the eggs are mostly incorporated (the mix will look clumpy) add in the water, using one hand to bring the dough together. Keep adding water only as necessary, noting that you really need to work the dough to bring it together. If you're cheating by adding extra liquid, the pasta will be a lot harder to work with. Best to put in the effort early. The dough should be stiff and firm with a drier surface but with little to no dry flour in the bowl.
• Once you have brought the dough together into a relatively smooth ball, tear off a piece and cover the remaining pasta in cling film or a slightly dampened tea towel.
• Lightly flour the bench with tapioca flour, using as much as necessary, whenever necessary.
• Use your rolling pin to roll the piece of dough thin enough to get through the thickest setting of your pasta machine. After getting it through the thickest setting (mine is a 7) run it through the machine again. Continue rolling it through on decreased width settings until it's thin enough for your tastes, noting that it swells during cooking (so go a little thinner than you think.) I like to get mine through smoothly at setting 2 or 3 on my Jamie Oliver machine.
• I don't have a special technique - I keep running the pasta through until it's smooth and (ideally) has relatively straight edges. You can save a bit of time and sanity by trimming the edges of each piece you roll out before putting it through the machine. You won't toughen the pasta from rolling, so you can re-roll as often as you see fit. If it's wonky, you can start fresh. You can also add extra water to very dry pieces that have toughened from being rolled out.
• Once the sheet of pasta is thin enough, put it through the fettuccine setting. Arrange into a little loose nest and set aside.
• Repeat with the remaining pasta dough until you have used it all. From here, you can either cook immediately, refrigerate overnight as nests, or freeze as nests. I find it tastes best fresh, but they're all delicious regardless.
• To cook, bring a large pot of very well salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and use tongs to gently but thoroughly separate the strands. This is particularly important if you made them the night before, as they have the tendency to stick together. Cook the pasta for 2-3 minutes, until it's lightly chewy but cooked through. If in doubt, pull it out - homemade pasta doesn't take long.
• Leftovers keep well in the fridge for a day or two and can be frozen. The pasta might be a little fragile after cooking and freezing, so I recommend either freezing it raw or using it up within a few days.

GLUTEN-FREE FRESH PASTA

Steps:

• Whisk together gluten-free flour blend, chickpea flour, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk eggs and oil in a small bowl to combine.
• Add egg mixture to dry ingredients and stir with a fork to incorporate; mixture will be crumbly. Tip out onto a surface and knead until a smooth dough forms, about 3 minutes. Form dough into a ball and wrap tightly in plastic. Chill at least 1 hour and up to 1 day to allow flour to hydrate (the longer you can let it rest, the better).
• Roll out pasta according to pasta machine directions or roll out and cut by hand.