More On Quest to Starchless, Grainless Pasta

I didn't think that going starchless and grainless for pasta would be that challenging, but as I've Googled and Yahoo'd countless times, there isn't a lot out there.  I found a company, Cappello's in Colorado that makes good pasta from almond flour, but the cost is really expensive and not within affordable ranges for this mommy.   though the pasta is gluten free, gluten free does not mean starch or corn-free, which I am free from both.  Also, I found one food blogger that did try making numerous pastas from all different types of flours.  She is Gluten Free Girl.

For me, I'm most interested in nut flours or coconut flours.  But, I just learned that buckwheat is a seed, not a type of grain.  Interesting, and doesn't contain wheat.  However, I wonder if it's a starch now.

I'm going to place a few links in this post because I found these helpful to understand some things I did not know:

• Gluten Free Flour Alternatives
• Wheat, oats, barley and rye all contain gluten - Coconut Flour & Gluten
• Gluten Free Breads & Pastas article
• Gluten Free Flour Formulas - substitute for wheat flour in recipes
• Wheat-Free & Corn Free - 
• Wheat-Free & Soy Free
• Starch Free Diet, Non-Starchy Foods 

So, on this quest, I'm thinking that what makes the dough sticky & pliable is some level of starch.  Capello's uses the following ingredients in their products:  almond flour, eggs, tapioca flour, potato starch, xantham gum (the stickiness factor), sea salt.

When reading recipes on how to make pasta, it's basically flour & eggs (or some moistening agent).  The flour, typically a wheat flour, has gluten in it - one which causes a stickiness factor and the other a pliability factor.  So, if you're using a flour like almond flour, it does not have gluten in it, so it doesn't have the stickiness or pliability factors, thus, they need to be put in there.  I think the tapioca and potato starches are for pliability and the xantham gum is for stickiness.

Here is GlutenFreeGirl's Pasta recipe:

• 3 ounces garbanzo-fava flour
• 3 ounces millet flour
• 3 ounces potato starch
• 1 teaspoon psyllium husk powder
• pinch ground nutmeg (freshly grated, if you can)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 extra-large egg
• 3 egg yolks from extra-large eggs
• 1 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 to 2 tablespoons water

Other flours can be substituted for the ones listed.  So, basically what Cappello's did was substitute tapioca flour  for one of the flours and almond flour for the other flour.  What GFG uses instead of xantham gum, as she doesn't like that, is psyllium husk powder.  She said the nutmeg is the special ingredient for this recipe.  Though Cappello's doesn't use EVOO, this recipe does.  It's really just the liquidy factor here . . . along with the water.  

So, the recipe is similar to Cappello's, what I'm gathering.

I do have to note that gluten free does not mean starch free, soy free, corn free, or low in sugar.  To be starch free, one must eliminate all starches (rice, legumes, starch veggies).  Both tapioca and potato starches ARE starches.  I'll have to see if I can make something turn out.

I don't know if I can use almond flour, psyllium husk powder, eggs, olive oil, water, nutmeg and that would be enough.  I don't really want to use xantham gum.