Recently, Bobbye, a Sprout & Pea reader asked me if I made my own quinoa pasta. Well, Bobbye, I never had but you inspired me to give it a go! I brought up the idea while I was home over Thanksgiving and my mom was equally excited about it so together we attempted to make some quinoa ravioli. It turns out all you need to make this protein packed pasta is some quinoa flour, arrowroot powder and eggs. We were skeptical about how easy the recipe sounded but if it turned out well, it would be an exciting solution to not being able to purchase quinoa ravioli or tortellini at the store. We made our dough, stuffed them with ricotta and tossed them into a pot of boiling water. When they floated to the top, we drained the water and topped them with a little sage brown butter sauce. When we took a bite, we were amazed at how great they had turned out. They even got my nit-picky eater dad’s approval. The one lesson I learned in making these is to thin out the dough a bit more than we did. I also would add a little salt to the dough next time. And there will be a next time. I absolutely plan to make these again soon. Here’s the easy as pie recipe from Grain Free Gluten Free…

Ingredients:
1 medium sized egg (approx. 60g or 2oz.)
¾ cup quinoa flour
2 tbs arrowroot or tapioca flour
Note: Use 1 egg for every 90 – 100g (3 ½ oz.or ¾ cup) flour. Increase the amounts to suit.

Bring ingredients to room temperature. Combine in a bowl and knead until it forms a firm dough. If the dough is too dry, add a very small amount of water to moisten. If the dough is too moist, add small amounts of flour and continue to knead.
The dough should be firm and smooth. When you press it to a flat surface and pull it away, none of the dough should stick. If it does, it is too wet. If the texture is at all crumbly, it is too dry.

Use a pasta maker or rolling pin to form into the desired thickness and shape. The pasta can stick together when it has been freshly cut. If you don’t plan to cook it immediately, lay it out so that each piece is not touching another until for about half an hour until the pasta has dried out a bit.

Plunge into boiling water for 2 – 3 minutes until al dente. Your quinoa pasta is ready to serve.

As always, Thanksgiving dinner was one of my best meals all year. My mom made cornish hens with potatoes, apples, celery root and lemons that turned out so flavorful and juicy (not surprisingly). She also made an amazing sweet potato soufflé, an apple chutney and a pumpkin cheese cake that we didn’t eat until the next night because we were too full by the time dessert came around. I contributed my cardamom and orange stuffing and some brussels sprouts to this meal for 12 that was made for 3. It worked out perfectly as we all got to happily enjoy leftovers and each others company for days. What did you make for Thanksgiving?