Some of the Best Gluten Free Pasta Recipes
Eating fresh pasta is a different experience to eating dried pasta, and you might think that once you have been diagnosed with coeliac disease and are cutting out gluten from your diet, that fresh pasta (or any type of pasta) will be off the menu. This isn’t the case at all thankfully, and there are some delicious gluten free pasta recipes for you to try out. There’s no reason why you can’t continue to get your fresh pasta fix, even if you are going gluten free!
Going gluten free
There are several reasons why a person might decide to avoid gluten, from coeliac disease to a gluten intolerance, food allergies to gluten sensitivity and a lifestyle choice. If you like pasta, there are many gluten free pasta products available on the market to choose from, alongside gluten free flour mixes that help you to create your own, fresh pasta without needing to compromise on taste.
Best gluten free flour for pasta
If you want to make your own fresh pasta, it is easier than ever before with gluten free flours available in supermarkets, and on prescription. For a coeliac, gluten free flour should always be a cupboard staple, an essential that you can use at home to make bread, pizza, pies, and fresh, homemade pasta. Traditional flour that contains gluten that activates when water is added to the flour, allowing for the dough to expand and keep its shape. Gluten free flour is made with gluten free ingredients, and is used instead of traditional wheat, barley, and rye flours. It can be made from buckwheat, rice, and tapioca.
3 gluten free pasta recipes
Making gluten free pasta at home is fun and there are so many different variations of pasta that you can make. Here are three of our favourite gluten free pasta recipes.
3-ingredient pasta dough
All you need for this recipe is gluten free flour, xanthan gum, and eggs. Use the gluten free flour blend that you like to make the pasta dough, the eggs bind it together, and the xanthan gum makes it flexible, as the gluten alternative.
- Everything goes in one bowl, making this an easy recipe to make. Mix the flour and xanthan gum together, make a well in the middle and crack in the eggs
- Scramble the eggs slightly, mixing in the flour and xanthan mixture until the dough is sticky.
- Knead for 2 to 3 minutes and then roll out and cut into four even pieces
- If you have a pasta machine, you’ll use it at this stage to flatten a piece of dough after adding some flour on both sides, being as quick as you can and passing it through a few times until you have the desired width and length that you desire. If you don’t have a pasta machine, you can achieve this with elbow grease and a rolling pin
- Cut into the shape you want, and you can then use the pasta immediately by tossing it into boiling water with a pinch of salt for 5 minutes
- Alternatively, you can leave it out on a cooling rack to use the next day
This is fantastic fresh pasta that you can use with a variety of ingredients and sauces to make delicious pasta dishes.
Spaghetti and Italian meatballs
This delicious classic takes under an hour to prepare and can be cooked in around half hour, serving 4 people.
Ingredients:
- 500g pork and beef mix mince
- 2 crushed garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon of chopped basil
- 25g grated parmesan
- 140g tomato puree
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 finely chopped brown onion
- 700ml passata
- 500g gluten free spaghetti
Cooking method:
- Mix the mince, parsley, garlic, parmesan and tomato puree in a bowl and shape into small balls. Place in a fridge for 30 minutes until chilled
- Heat the oil over a medium heat and add meatballs to cook. Turn after 5 minutes or when browned and then transfer to a plate
- Cook the onion in the same pan for 5 minutes or until soft
- Add the passata, the rest of the tomato puree and 250ml of water, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a low simmer for 10 minutes
- Place the meatballs back into the pan and cook uncovered for 15 minutes or until the sauce has thickened through
- Cook gluten free pasta in boiling water to your taste and drain well
- Divide the spaghetti, pasta sauce and meatballs into four serving bowls
Butternut squash mac and cheese
This is a delicious, unctuous gluten free pasta dish that is simple to make, great as a gluten free alternative, and can be easily separated into batches when cooked to be frozen for future use.
Ingredients for the mac and cheese:
- 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
- 2 chopped brown onions
- 2 gluten free vegetable stock cubes
- 1 litre of boiling water
- 600g of peeled, deseeded and chopped butternut squash
- 600g of peeled and chopped sweet potatoes
- 200ml semi-skimmed milk
- 1kg gluten free pasta (choose a short pasta such as macaroni)
- 360g mature cheddar cheese
- 1 tablespoon fine sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Additional (optional) ingredients:
- 200g frozen peas
- 200g frozen sweetcorn (drained)
- 200g sliced and fried mushrooms
- 200g broccoli florets
- 200g halved cherry tomatoes
- Trimmed and chopped spring onions
The beauty with this dish is that you can add any or all of the above ingredients to customise it how you like!
Method:
- Add the oil and onions into a large pan and cook for 5 minutes or until they are softened
- Dissolve the stock cubes in a large jug
- Stir the butternut squash and sweet potatoes in with the onions, and add in the stock and milk
- Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes
- Pre-heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/Gas 7
- Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add your gluten free pasta and cook for just under 10 minutes until tender. Drain and set to one side
- Blend the butternut squash, sweet potato and onion mixture until it is smooth. Add the cheese, salt and black pepper and cook on a medium heat for 2-3 minutes until the cheese has fully melted
- Add the pasta to the mixture and cook for another 2 minutes
- At this point you can add in any of the additional ingredients and stir through before serving
*A gluten free garlic bread is a fantastic addition to this dish to help you mop up once the pasta is finished!
Have a go at making your own fresh pasta or following some of the tasty gluten free pasta recipes with a wide variety of sauce and ingredients to try out. If you have recently been diagnosed with coeliac disease, you might be entitled to a gluten free prescription where you can gain access to a range of gluten free products. This includes gluten free pasta for those of you who are living in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. A gluten free prescription is a fantastic way to find gluten free products and is a great support for those on the gluten free journey.
