Kitchen

[Campion]

I can suggest making homemade pasta from white spelt flour (or whole spelt if you like whole grain pasta--I do not but some do.)

This is a wheat relative so if you are celiac, it's not for you, but the spelt is far more digestible. My wheat (not celiac) sensitive late husband could eat spelt, not wheat. It isn't lower carb but it is very digestible and gets around the bloat from wheat.

It also makes particularly good noodles. It's regularly used in Germany where we lived. Works up easily and makes a very tender, good noodle. I use the same recipe for flour noodles with egg. (Make a pile on the board, add an egg or two in center of well, work in. Add a dash of water if too dry, etc.)

After I let my dough rest, I simply roll it and cut it with an Atlas pasta maker. If you leave the sheets whole, they make great lasagne.

Our health food store coop carries white spelt flour but sometimes you have to mail order it. It's well worth it. By the way, spelt is the same as Italian "farro" which is a kind of wheat berry (spelt berry) that cooks up like rice and can be used for salads or pilaf. It's very common in Tuscany and it's very good, too.

[CountryMusicGal]

For PamelaSue72 ~~

Well, I just finished making the ravioli & they are in the freezer before I pack them up for storage. I had devil of a time rolling out the dough. I let it rest 15 min. before rolling & I did the best I could with it. I ended up using a 3" biscuit cutter and putting them together by hand per your instructions. I came out with about 26 larger ravioli. It was a lot of work . . . time for my nap!! Gnocchi are much easier -- I use Tyler Florence's recipe and find it to be the best I've used. The potatoes are baked and then riced before mixing dough.

Thanks for your advice! I am sure the raviolis will be worth the effort it took!

[PamelaSue72]

I'm sorry you had trouble with your raviolis.....this is why sometimes I hesitate to post a recipe, because I feel badly if people have trouble with it. But honestly, I've been using this recipe for quite a few years now and, well, it's always been a good one for me. I even taught one of my GFs how to make ravioli using this recipe. And she still uses it as well.

I hope you'll be happy with the finished product (and that your guests will like them, too!). They really are quite good.

[Pickwickpapers]

Thanks for the recipe.....I can't wait to try it......I bought a pasta machine a few months ago and needed a good recipe..........

[CountryMusicGal]

Pamela Sue -- I am sure the raviolis turned out fine. First time I made them, so I was just getting the hang of it! The next time, I am going to make my dough in the food processor, as I see many people do. Anything to make it easier!

For whoever is interested -- I hit on a great Italian website. www.mangiabenepasta.com

Everything you ever wanted to know about pasta -- and Italian recipes in general. Have a great weekend.