Wholemeal Pasta

I have always been the type of person to read food labels but since undertaking my pledge to remove processed food from my diet I have become even more aware of what is in foods and particularly what is not.

If you don’t read the very small print on the back ( who has the time of the inclination ) you cannot trust that the claims on the front on the pack are accurate.

Take wholemeal pasta for example.  One would assume that when you buy a packet of wholemeal pasta that the flour used to make said pasta would be wholemeal.  Unfortunately that is not always the case.  For example :

The front of pack in large print states Whole Grain pasta and in smaller print below “made with 51% whole wheat”and on the back of the box it goes on to specify that it is made with a mixture of flours – whole grain, white flour and semolina (also from white flour).

If you are trying to add more fiber to your diet this would okay but if you are trying to completely remove white flour obviously not the best choice.

Even though it can be terribly time consuming in the beginning the best tip is to read the labels on the back.  Once you find a suitable brand you just stick with it.

Making your own pasta can be time consuming and I will admit that once or twice in the beginning I worked through all the steps to have pasta that was not a nice texture and unusual tasting.  I have learned to keep trying and it is actually quite satisfying to make your own 🙂

Wholemeal Pasta Recipe

• 2 eggs (room temp)
• 1 cup of wholemeal flour

I use a mix master with a dough hook to mix my pasta but you can also use a food processor (mix just until ingredients come together in a ball) or you could just use your hands.  Once mixed pat with flour, wrap it in plastic wrap and allow to rest on for 30 minutes on your kitchen bench.  Follow instructions on your pasta machine to roll out your pasta or once again you can do this by hand (take it from me the machine is much easier and quicker). Allow pasta to air dry before cooking in rapidly boiling salted water for about 3 -5 minutes.   This recipe is easily multiplied to make bigger batches and I also use different flours (spelt/buckwheat etc).