Homemade Chickpea Pasta

I have this canister of chickpea flour that I bought a while ago and have never used it. The other day, I saw a photo on a friends Facebook page where she had made her own pasta. In the past, I have ventured into making my own pasta with good results, but is been many, many years since I have done this. My mind then wandered to the canister of chickpea flour in the back of my newly cleaned and organized cupboard... "Hmph" I wondered if I could use it to make pasta?

Well, it was experimentation time again this evening.

I was not sure how well the flour would work and if it would be pliable enough, but I was so pleasantly surprised.

After I made the pasta, which BTW I did completely the old fashioned way... ALL by hand! I have no fancy equipment to make pasta, so it was the old roller (and I mean OLD! I can't seem to find where my rolling pin is so I'm using an old "stick" like gadget I picked up years ago in an old Indian store. Its now warped, but it still does the job), knife and a "somewhat" good-eye.

I did not know how the flavour of the chickpea would fair and definitely wanted to get a sense of how it tasted, so I decided to cook it with fresh basil, garlic, and butter. I was SO pleasantly surprised, it was really delicious.

This is how to do it...:

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup chickpea flour
2 large eggs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
White flour for dusting

6 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
8 Fresh basil leaves, sliced thinly
2 TBSP unsalted butter
Salt (to taste)


Method:

1. On a clean surface put the chickpea flour and mix the salt and paprika. Make a well in the center and add the eggs. Using a fork, slowly beat the eggs and start incorporating the flour mix around it. Soon you're going to find it gets too sticky for the fork so start using your hands and gently incorporate the flour to create a pliable dough, kneading as you go.

2. Roll the dough into a sausage shape and divide into four. Roll each 1/4 into a ball and flatten out and then roll out until very thin (use white flour for dusting). Using a sharp knife, cut into strips of desired length and width. (If you have a pasta maker machine, then you will eliminate this step and use the machine instead.)

3. Boil a pot of water with a fair amount of salt in it. Stirring frequently, boil for 5-8 minutes, drain and set aside.

4. In pan, melt butter and add the garlic, cook until garlic is cooked through and then add basil, once basil is cooked well, add the pasta and toss till well coated.

Serves 2 - 4