KETO PASTA
I have tried so many recipes for Keto Pasta - the cheese-based ones that disappointingly, but obviously, just melt when you pour your sauce over or through them and also the courgette/zucchini substitutes for pasta (which are actually quite good and excellent for lasagne), but nothing truly compares to real pasta. It's a difficult thing to recreate and nothing I've tried is as good as the real thing, BUT if like me, you want to stick to a keto/low-carb diet and (although not a purist) take the view that a keto-type pasta is better than no pasta, then this is the second best recipe I've tried and adapted. I enjoy it so much, I've now bought a pasta machine to get a more perfect roll and even shape to my pasta. It's actually simple - and very satisfying - to make. It takes a while to carefully cut your pasta, once rolled, into strips (or shapes) without a machine, but I found it quite therapeutic and felt a sense of achievement once I'd made it. At only 2 net carbs per portion and even if you double-up your portion size, this is an infinitely preferably option to the traditional wheat-based or rice pastas and with a delicious sauce, you'll hardly notice the difference.
Ingredients - For 4 servings
- 200g Almond Flour
- 2.5 tsp Xanthan Gum
- 2.5 tblsp Psyllium Husk (Ground Flax Seed can also be used here)
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 2 Eggs
- Mix all the dried ingredients together in a bowl and then tip into a pile onto a sanitised work-top or silicone baking sheet
- Make a well in the centre of the mound of flour and crack the two eggs into the centre.
- With a fork, break the eggs and start to mix them with the fork, gradually adding in a little of the flour-mix from the sides with each circular motion
- Gradually combine all the flour-mix with the eggs until you have a sticky dough
- Then use your hands to gently knead the dough into a firm ball. If the dough remains a little sticky, then just add an additional teaspoon of almond flour at a time until it stops being sticky.
- I find it helps to rest the dough at this stage for 30 minutes (at room temperature) to enable the xanthan gum to take effect within the dough - particularly if you want to use a pasta machine to cut your dough
- Divide your dough into four equal pieces
- Place each ball of dough, in turn, between two sheets of non-stick greaseproof paper and roll it to as neat an oblong as possible and to approximately 2mm thick.
- Then : EITHER use your pasta machine to roll and cut the dough to your preferred style OR using a pizza cutter, cut the rolled dough into the strips or shapes of pasta you require. Repeat with each piece of dough
- If cooking straight away, the pasta will only take 2 minutes in a pan of boiling salted water to cook.
- You can make the pasta the day before you require it, or in the morning and leave it to dry out slightly. If you leave it overnight, then it will likely take 5 minutes to cook and if you prepare it in the morning for that night's supper (as I do), it will take about 3 minutes to cook
- Once cooked to an al-dente firmness, drain thoroughly and serve with your favourite sauce.
- If using for lasagna, just add the pasta to your dish in the usual way and it will cook whilst the lasagna is baking.