This may surprise you, but vegan fresh pasta has actually been around in Italy for centuries. Although fresh pasta made with eggs (pasta all’uovo) is more common in northern Italy, many pasta shapes are made from pasta bianca, or “white dough”, which contains just flour and water. This dough comes from the South, where limited access to expensive ingredients like eggs meant that pasta-makers had to innovate with what they had to hand.
Inspired by this spirit of innovation, we’ve teamed up with our friends at EverGrain to create a spin on a traditional vegan pasta bianca dough. This isn’t just any pasta dough, though; we’re using EverGrain’s special ancient grain flour.
About EverGrain
EverGrain are a start-up that have found a clever way of upcycling one of the most wasted side products of the brewing industry: barley. Thanks to some clever science, EverGrain are able to upcycle this barley – ‘orzo’ in Italian – into an amazing high protein flour. What’s more, when combined with “00” or semola flour, this flour creates a mix that’s perfect for making a high protein vegan pasta dough. In fact, just one portion of pasta made with this flour contains as much protein as half a chicken breast.
Making the flour is actually very environmentally effective, too. The flour is made from by-products of the beer making process, which means there’s no land needed to grow the barley, or any pesticides either.
At Pasta Evangelists, we love working with alternatives to traditional flour – like EverGrain – as a creative way of improving the taste, nutrition and carbon-footprint of our vegan pasta recipes.
Feeling inspired to try this twist on a classic pasta dough? Andiamo, let’s get to it!
Our recipe for a protein-packed vegan pasta dough
Serves: 4 people
Prep time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Calories: 232 kcal per serving (excludes sauce)
Ingredients:
- 200g “00” flour
- 200g EverGrain “EverVita” flour
- 200ml warm water
Tools:
- Fork
- Wooden board
- Scraper
- Gnocchi paddle (if you decide to make gnocchetti with your dough)
Method:
Check out the recipe below, or follow along with chef Roberta in our step-by-step video.
Make the dough
- First things first, mix your two types of flour together in a bowl so they are well combined.
- Then, gently pour your water into the bowl, mixing with a fork the whole time.
- Once you’ve added all the water you should have a shaggy dough.
- Transfer the dough to your work surface, then start kneading.
Knead the dough
High protein flour absorbs more water than other flours, so make sure you add the full quantity of water. Don’t be afraid of putting a little bit of elbow grease – or olio di gomito as the Italians say – into kneading your dough. The extra pressure really helps the gluten bind, creating that firm, elastic texture that we’re after.
- Knead the dough by pressing the heel of one hand into the ball, keeping your fingers high.
- Press down on the dough while pushing it firmly away from you. The dough should stretch and roll under your hand to create a shell-like shape.
- Turn the dough over, then press into the dough with your knuckles, one hand at a time. Continue kneading for about 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and springy to the touch.
- Roll the dough into a smooth ball.
Let the dough rest
- Place the dough in a small bowl and cover with a cloth or plastic wrap.
- Let the dough rest for 15-20 minutes at room temperature.
Shaping your pasta
Once your dough is made, all that’s left to do is pick your pasta shape and start rolling. From trofie to strozzapreti, there’s plenty of options when it comes to pasta bianca shapes. But our favourites for this dough are both southern Italian stalwarts; Puglian orecchiette, and Sardinian malloreddus, or gnocchetti (little gnocchi). Here’s how to craft these shapes.
Chef’s tip: You need to be a little more delicate when making these shapes. This dough doesn’t contain a lot of starch or gluten - so it can break a little more easily than other types of dough.
Orecchiette
- Cut off a quarter of the dough and roll into a long sausage roughly 1cm in diameter.
- Cut the sausage shape into pieces approximately 1cm wide.
- Using a straight-edged knife, press the flat end of the blade down onto the dough and drag this back towards you, causing the dough to curl over the knife.
- The pasta should naturally turn outwards with the knife motion. If you’re having difficulty getting the technique right, you can fold them over your thumb to get the ear-like shape.
- If you are feeling like a pro, you can combine the above two steps by cutting a piece from your dough sausage and dragging the knife blade across it in one swift motion.
For more tips, check out our ultimate guide to making orecchiette.
Malloreddus (Gnocchetti)
- To make malloreddus, begin by rolling the dough into a sausage shape
- Cut the sausage shape into 1cm chunks.
- Using a gnocchi paddle, roll the pieces over the paddle to impress the ridges onto the dough.
- If you don’t have a gnocchi paddle, you can press a fork against a rolled piece to create the ridges.
At Pasta Evangelists, we bring a taste of Italy to your kitchen. Prepared using the freshest ingredients, our gourmet pasta dishes are perfect for those looking to enjoy restaurant-quality meals, delivered to your door, and ready in under five minutes. Order from our weekly menu today, and we’ll offer you 25% off your first delivery - simply enter the code BLOG25 at checkout.
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