Lupin Flour Pasta (low carb pasta)

Since the beginning of January, we’ve been trying to do a low-carb diet to shed some Covid pounds. It’s a pretty easy diet to follow but of all the food groups that are restricted, carbs are my favourite so it’s been challenging mentally and in cooking! Until I discovered Lupin Flour and Vital Wheat Gluten. These two ingredients are an absolute game changer! We’re talking real bread, real pasta, real baking! Lupin flour is made from the Lupin bean which, unfortunately, is related to Soy and Peanuts so if you have an allergy or a sensitivity, chances are you will be the same with Lupin flour. It is also super high in protein and fibre making its net carb content quite low and easily added to a low-carb diet. There is only one small thing you have to pay close attention to when dealing with any bean-based flour, is that it is super absorbent so you can’t just substitute it for regular flour. The other revelation is Vital Wheat Gluten, this amazing ‘flour’ brings all the elasticity and bread-like behavior to the bean-four. I based this recipe on one that I found on Google, Black Tie Kitchen’s keto pasta noodles, and like any first recipe, I tried the smallest portion possible in case it bombed. I am super pleased to tell you it didn’t bomb, it exceeded my expectations!

You will notice that the pasta is quite yellow and that is due to the colour of Lupin Flour and the eggs I use which have golden yolks. The cooked pasta in the soup, I used an egg with a lighter colour yoke, but the yellow-ness dissipates when cooked.

Lupin Flour Low-Carb Garganelli

Lupin Flour Low-Carb Soup Noodles

Lupin Flour Low-Carb Ramen Noodles

Extruded Cooked Ramen Noodles. These noodles really lose the orangy colour when cooked.

This is the leftover pasta dough from the extruder. I rolled it out to the 6th thickness and cut them using the spaghetti cutter. Probably the 5th thickness would be better so that the noodles separate better.

Lupin Flour Pasta

Makes 2 servings of 138 g of raw pasta, 8 g net carbs per serving

Ingredients:

• 80 g Vital Wheat Gluten
• 80 g White Lupin Flour
• 2 large egg, whisked well
• 4 g salt
• 30 mL water, if necessary

Directions:

1. Add the wheat gluten and lupin flower in the small bowl of your stand mixer and whisk until combined. Change the attachment to the scraping paddle. Add the egg and allow the paddle to pull the dough together, if you find the dough too dry, add a few drops of water (I ended up adding about 15 mL, making it stretchy and not too sticky. Make the dough into a ball and cover it with plastic wrap and allow it to rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
2. Divide the dough into four equal parts and roll it out into a disk (I usually weigh the ball and divide it by four to get four equal pieces).
3. Using the thickest setting on your pasta machine, roll out the dough progressing to the thinnest you can get it without it falling apart (mine was at 6 on my KitchenAid pasta attachment).
4. Cut your dough to your desired shapes (Garganelli requires little squares that are 4 cm x 4 cm).
5. Use the shaped pasta immediately or allow to entirely dry out on the counter on parchment paper for longer-term storage.
6. To cook, just do as regular pasta, in a well-salted water for a maximum of 3 minutes, but it will depend on the thickness of your pasta.

To make Ramen Noodles:

• To make low-carb Ramen noodles, add 2.7 g of sodium carbonate (baked baking soda see notes here) to the dry ingredients and follow the instructions above. To cook, enough water to cover with an additional 4 cm more water on top (the ramen noodles will expand). Cook the noodles for 1.5 to 2 minutes for a chewier texture. The three minutes will result as a softer noodle but it will hold its shape.
• I used an after-market pasta extruder I purchased on Amazon to fit on my KitchenAid Stand Mixer. The most efficient way to push the raw dough through this extruder is to roll small amounts of dough into a pencil-thickness noodle and that way the mixer’s motor is not taxed as it is forced through the auger.
• You can also use a KitchenAid pasta roller attachment, it’s always best to roll the dough by hand so it is no thicker than 3 mm before putting it through the pasta roller attachment, your motor will thank you for it. I found 5 was the perfect thickness as these noodles do swell with cooking.

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Almond Sesame Crackers (Gluten Free)

This is my ‘”GO-TO” gluten-free cracker, not just because they are so tasty, but because they are super-easy to make and require very little equipment! This recipe is half of my usual recipe because I didn’t want leftovers but because the measurements are metric, it’s super-easy to double or triple. The only thing I would caution you about is that they burn very quickly because of the natural oils in ground almonds and the grapeseed oil but hopefully it won’t deter you from making them, they are worth it.

Almond Sesame Crackers (Gluten Free)

Makes 40 crackers but it depends on how thick you roll them and how large you cut them. This recipe was first posted in 2011 in Imperial measures.

Ingredients:

• 150 g unblanched ground almonds
• 7 teaspoons sea salt
• 60 g sesame seeds, I like black and white versions, toasted lightly.
• 1 egg
• 15 mL grapeseed oil

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325° F with the rack set in the middle.
2. Mix the first three ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk the egg with the grapeseed oil together.
3. Combine the egg mixture with the dry ingredients and stir until well coated and clearly mixed well.
4. Roll between two sheets of parchment paper to just less than 1 mm thick. Cut into 4-centimetre squares leaving the crackers on the parchment (no need to separate). 
5. Cut off the parchment that is on top and slide the cut crackers onto a baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 checking often near the end as it burns quickly. Remove the baking sheet and slide the parchment off it onto a cooling rack. Cool slightly and snap the crackers apart. Cool completely to store.

These crackers have excellent flavour and texture.

Notes:

• Add various nuts (although they should be small) to the batter for a slightly different texture.
• The thicker you roll your crackers the sturdier they will be, but just less than 1 mm is sturdy enough for a good thick dip.
• These crackers are quite moreish but be careful as they are also very filling so you don’t need as many to satisfy you!
• I reduced the baking temperature to 325° F from 350° F because I burnt the first batch!

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