Bean Pasta

I'm on a food high right now! I wish you could see me, I'm smiling from cheek to cheek. This is awesome!

I know I've lost you; let me fill you in. A friend of mine came visiting last week. She has been trying to conceive for 5 years now. That day, she told me she's also diabetic. Her greatest challenge is finding interesting food choices. She's one of those people who can't even eat wheat because it spikes her blood sugar. That reminds me, please, if you know anyone who's diabetic, they shouldn't just be eating wheat because it's healthier- they should check their sugar levels after wheat consumption, from what I hear, wheat isn't for all diabetics.

Anyway, back to my friend: I decided to look into healthier food options for her, keeping in mind that most diabetes friendly foods are fertility-friendly, especially for women with fibroids, PCOS, and endo. I got a list of foods she could eat, and started working on recreating them in interesting recipes. Well, this is the first of them, and I can tell you it rocked! I'm going to be trying out two other flour substitutes for pasta, and I will let you know how they go.

This is going to be a staple in my house, from now on. I'm drying some now to see how well they keep. I don't think I'm going to have regular pasta for a long time (it sounds extreme, I know, but I'm willing to do anything food-wise that will bring me a step closer to holding my babies in my arms) because these came out soooooo good. It's also DH approved! Lol.

Now the taste of this differs from regular pasta (duh!) but in a nice way. It absorbed the taste of the sauce excellently, and just had the slightest hint of beans.

Tips:

1. Roll out the dough as thinly as possible so the resultant pasta is light as well. Don't bother with a pasta roller, the dough is very easy to roll out.

2. Leave the dough to rest for 3-5 hours, I find it is easier to work with after it has rested well.

3. Don't leave this dough in the fridge overnight- I did, and I wasn't pleased with the colour the next day. If you don't have the time, wrap it in cling film or put it in a freezer bag and freeze.

4. This pasta doesn't like being turned too much, once you start cooking it, toss it once or twice with thongs or 2 forks-never with a spoon; it's prone to breakage.

I tossed mine in tomato sauce. You can serve it anyway you like. I also put oregano in my doughy, this is totally optional, but the options you can add in are endless. I'm thinking red pepper flakes or spinach. Yum! In fact, before the week runs out, I'm soooo making lasagna with this!


Ingredients

1 3/4 cups of beans flour (I took mine to the market to grind) I used brown beans
2 medium eggs
1 tablespoon of almond oil
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon of oregano (optional, use red pepper flakes, garlic powder, spinach, anything you like!)

Method

Sift the flour and salt together in a mixing bowl.
Add the eggs and oil. Use a fork to mix to form a dough. If your dough is too dry, add 1 teaspoon of water and mix. Cover the dough with a tea cloth and let it rest for at least 3 hours.
Dust your rolling surface with a little bean flour. Roll out the dough very thinly and cut into any shape you like. I made bow ties, you can make fettuccine by cutting straight strips.
Bring water to the boil in a large pot, add the pasta. Cook for 8 minutes, then drain. Serve anyway you like, and enjoy.

Aminata, this one is for you!

Remember,
It's sooo good for you,

Deema.