How to make your own fresh or dried red lentil pasta

Lentil noodles are a healthy, gluten-free alternative to conventional wheat pasta with lower carbohydrate content, more protein, more fiber and more micronutrients. The properties of legume pasta make it interesting for people who follow a diet to reduce weight, those who follow a vegetarian diet and those who want an extra supply of protein. Red lentil pasta is easy to make at home and can be prepared with or without eggs.

The pasta made from lentils provides the body with important minerals such as magnesium and iron, in addition to group B vitamins. Thanks to the combination of complex carbohydrates and fiber, this type of pasta fills you up more than conventional pasta and provides you with longer-lasting energy.

Homemade lentil pasta also has the advantage that, like other pasta made at home with or without gluten, it saves a lot of waste in the form of packaging. Therefore, it pollutes less and its carbon footprint is smaller. On the other hand, they can keep in stock and store for a long time.

Fresh or dried homemade lentil noodles

The first step is to turn the lentils into flour, which you can also do yourself with a powerful food processor or with a coffee or cereal grinder.

Ingredients for three or four servings of lentil pasta:

300 g of lentil or red lentil flour 75-100 ml of water (if you use an egg for the preparation, approximately 40 milliliters less water is required) 1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon of salt (if you are going to dry Don’t use the salt for pasta because it will absorb moisture from the air which will pass into the pasta trying to dry. ½ teaspoon spices like paprika powder, turmeric powder, or nutmeg 1 egg optional for even more protein

Elaboration:

Grind the lentils finely or use ready-made lentil flour. Mix the lentil flour well together with the other dry ingredients in a bowl. Make a hole in the center and add the water, oil and optionally the egg there. Starting at the edge, use a fork to stir the lentil flour into the liquid ingredients. Knead with your hands or with the dough hook if using a stand mixer. Until you get an elastic and non-sticky consistency it can take approximately 10 minutes. If necessary, you can add a little more water or flour to achieve the right consistency. Shape the pasta dough into a ball and let it rest for 30 minutes. Wrap it in baking paper or put it in an airtight container so it does not dry out. Divide the ball of dough into two or three portions. Spread each portion with a rolling pin on the work surface sprinkled with lentil flour until it reaches a thickness of about two millimeters. To cut the noodles, you can use a pasta machine or do it by hand. To do this, roll the entire dough carefully, without squeezing it. Cut the cylinder that you have formed every 0.5 cm and unroll the strips. You can cut the strips of If you have a pasta machine you can also use it.

And the lentil pasta is ready. You can cook it immediately or dry it for your storage. To dry it you can spread it on kitchen towels or on a grill. Dried pasta will keep for several months in an airtight container.

To cook the pasta, you need two to three minutes for fresh pasta and five to six minutes for the dry version in boiling and slightly salted water until well cooked.

If you want the pasta to stay al dente, try it while cooking. This lentil pasta goes perfectly, for example, with parsley pesto and a squeeze of lemon juice.

The fresh taste of lemon juice adds a refined note to dishes with legumes and the vitamin C it contains helps to assimilate vegetable iron.