# Celiac Pasta?



## Alix (Jan 14, 2005)

Hey all, I have a celiac friend and I am wondering...can I use potato flour or rice flour and eggs to make pasta? I could make lasagna then and she could eat it. She has never had lasagna...can you imagine?


----------



## PA Baker (Jan 14, 2005)

The poor thing!  I don't know about the pasta part, but I've read recipies for veggie lasagna where you use thinly sliced eggplant in place of the pasta.  If she can't use the other flours, maybe that would work.


----------



## mudbug (Jan 14, 2005)

does that mean a wheat/corn allergy, Alix?  never heard that term before


----------



## Alix (Jan 14, 2005)

Wheat allergy. She can only use rice or potato flour I think. I am not sure about the corn thing. But no oats either.


----------



## Alix (Jan 14, 2005)

OMG...check out the cool Google ads at the top of this page. VERY COOL!


----------



## mudbug (Jan 14, 2005)

I'm beginning to think that words we use in our posts or thread titles trigger the type of ads that appear on the same page in some way.


----------



## crewsk (Jan 14, 2005)

Mudbug, I think you are right. I was just looking in some other forums & the ads change with the topic & forum. Pretty neat!


----------



## mudbug (Jan 14, 2005)

yeah, I like it too.


----------



## Alix (Jan 14, 2005)

I am so into these little ads. They take me to new and exciting places!


----------



## GB (Jan 14, 2005)

Yeah the words do trigger the ads. All the ads should be pretty relevant to what the topic is about. Isn't technology amazing?

Alix when I first read your post I though you said you had Celtic friend LOL. Time for me to go home. My eyes are not working anymore


----------



## Alix (Jan 14, 2005)

LOL GB! I do that a lot!


----------



## Audeo (Jan 15, 2005)

What about rice flour, Alix?  That also makes a great pasta dough using the same 4-ounces-to-one-large-egg ratio.


----------



## Alix (Jan 15, 2005)

Thanks Audeo, that would work beautifully! I will give it a go and let you know.


----------



## Darkstream (Jan 15, 2005)

1. Celiac disease=gluten intolerance.

2. You can buy  maize pasta type products that are REPUTEDLY gluten free. They are freely available in the United States as I understand it.

3. Audeo, can you REALLY make pasta out of rice flour? I have found even rice flour chapattis a big difficulty. There is no GLUTEN in them. I suppose you can use the egg as a substitute, IF you can eat the egg.

4. Regretably , I have no advice for anyone making pasta with non wheat prducts. Best to revert to polenta recipes.


----------



## Michael in FtW (Jan 16, 2005)

Alix - I did a little Googeling and found several sites with gluten-free recipes. Amaranth flour kept popping up as a wheat flour substitute. When I Googled on Amaranth flour I found a couple of places that said that pasta can be made with 100% Amaranth flour - some other recipes combined it with tapioca and/or some other starch.

One American producer is Bob's Red Mill ( www.bobsredmill.com ) and you'll probably find their gluten-free products in health food stores. You could probably phone, or email, them and find out who in your area carries their products.

Take the straight-jacket off Audeo ... she's not crazy. One of the products Bob's Red Mill sells in their gluten-free line is White Rice Lasagna ... made from white rice flour and water.


----------



## amber (Jan 16, 2005)

mudbug said:
			
		

> I'm beginning to think that words we use in our posts or thread titles trigger the type of ads that appear on the same page in some way.



yup, I noticed that too! Clever


----------



## mrmufin (Dec 4, 2005)

Greetings from someone who happens to be gluten intolerant...

Folks with celiac disease (CD) and dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) have autoimmune disorders which regard the gluten found in wheat, rye, and barley as a toxin and respond by damaging the villi in the small intestine (in CD patients) and/or causing ferociously itchy skin rashes (in DH patients). Estimates vary, but the incidence of gluten intolerance in the general population may be as significant as 1 person in 100. Many CD and DH patients go misdiagnosed. Those of us who are gluten intolerant must avoid all products which contain wheat, rye, and barley. Most celiacs avoid oats and spelt, as well. Among the biggest dietary challenges for CD and DH patients is avoiding hidden gluten in apparently innocuous products (such as "modified food starch" or "hydrolyzed vegetable protein" or "natural flavoring" or "malt vinegar") and avoiding foods which may have been cross-contaminated by coming in contact with gluten-containing foods. 

Gluten-free pastas (and cookies, breads, crackers, etc.) are readily available in quite a few health food stores, as well as in many supermarkets. I've had a few GF pastas made from rice flour and rice/corn flour blends, and well... I prefer other substitutes, like spaghetti squash instead of spaghetti, or eggplant lasagna. Extra care must be taken when preparing many GF pastas as they tend to be easy to overcook and fall apart. While I've found some of the rice pastas OK for oriental food applications, they tend to be mediocre at best when used for Italian food entrees. That's just my opinion; your mileage may vary. 

General purpose gluten free flours are often made with a blend of white and brown rice flours, potato starch, tapioca flour, xanthan and/or guar gums (to provide some "stickiness," which the gluten in wheat does). The ratio of ingredients are often varied depending on the end product. 

Regards,
mrmufin


----------

