How To Make Your Own Chickpea Turmeric Pasta

How to make your own Chickpea and Turmeric Pasta – an easy to follow recipe and a very healthy and nutritious pasta to add to your dishes, and … IT’S WHEAT & GLUTEN FREE !!  So now’s the time to put away the fears and intimidation of your pasta maker and just DO IT.  So what makes this pasta so nutritious?  Chickpeas – the latest 2020 trend in health and wellness, along with Turmeric – which has been on our radar for a few years.  So let’s look at the health benefits of these two superfoods and then get down to the making your own pasta.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF CHICKPEAS:   chickpeas are very high in protein, which is good for vegetarians and vegans seeing they can use it to replace meat in any dish.  And they’re a rich source of vitamins, minerals and fiber – making chickpeas a great way for improving digestion,  reducing the risk of several diseases, and helping with your weight control.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF TURMERIC:  turmeric has the active compound curcumin,which has many scientifically-proven health benefits, such as the potential to prevent heart disease, Alzheimer’s and cancer.  It’s also a potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant that may also help improve symptoms of depression and arthritis.

So now that you know you’ll be consuming a really healthy and nutritious combo – let’s mix it all together for one of your great pasta dishes.  Enjoy 🙂

HOMEMADE CHICKPEA & TURMERIC PASTA

INGREDIENTS
2-3/4 cups sifted chickpea flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup sweet rice flour aka mochiko
1-1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Water as needed
Chickpea flour for rolling out

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix the chickpea flour, tapioca starch, sweet rice flour, ground turmeric, and xanthan gum into a large bowl.  Make a well in the middle of the flour and crack the eggs into the middle. Add the olive oil and salt.
2. Gently whisk the eggs together in the middle of the well, then blend it all together with the flour mix (you can use your KitchenAid for this part).
3. Remove from the bowl and use your hands to knead until it forms a dough. If it’s too dry, add ½ teaspoon of water at a time while kneading. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic, but not real sticky. If it becomes too sticky, add another teaspoon of chickpea flour until it becomes smooth and elastic.
4. Roll the dough into a ball, flatten into a disk, wrap the dough in plastic, and let rest for 30 minutes.
5. Once rested, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces. Keep pieces in plastic wrap under a towel until ready to use. Take one piece and press onto a chickpea floured table top until it’s 1/4″ thick.
6. Use  a rolling pin and roll out each piece into a thin sheet, lightly dusting both sides with chickepea flour as you go. If you’re using the pasta roller attachment from your KitchenAid, send the dough through setting 1.  Then fold it in half and send it again. Repeat until it feeds through smooth, sending it through until you get to the setting 4 (which is the setting for paper thin pasta).
7. Cut the sheets by hand into wide noodles or use the thick noodle cutter attachment. You can sprinkle some extra chickpea flour on them to keep them from sticking and set them aside, or you can hang them on a pasta hanger while you roll out the rest of the noodles.

Once all the noodles are made, bring a pot of water to a boil (add salt and a splash of olive oil once water begins to boil), add noodles and cook for 3-4 minutes, until cooked through.

AND VIOLA – YOU’RE OWN CHICKPEA AND TURMERIC PASTA.  Time to add them to your favorite pasta dish.  Enjoy 🙂