Gluten-Free Buckwheat Pasta Recipe with the Marcato Atlas+

Buckwheat flour makes a naturally gluten-free pasta dough with a slightly nutty flavour and a firmer texture than standard egg pasta. It works well with robust sauces and holds its shape during cooking. This recipe uses egg whites rather than whole eggs, which keeps the dough pliable without making it too soft.

The recipe below is written for the Marcato Atlas+, which rolls and cuts the dough using the built-in fettuccine and spaghetti cutters or any compatible attachment. If you want to make tube shapes like rigatoni, the Marcato Regina extrudes buckwheat dough through dies to produce shapes that cannot be cut on a roller machine.

Ingredients

• 300g buckwheat flour
• 2 fresh egg whites
• 125ml cold water

Preparing the Dough by Hand

1. Create a well with the buckwheat flour in a bowl and pour the egg whites and water into the centre.
2. Mix together with a fork, then begin kneading by hand.
3. Keep kneading until the dough is smooth and holds together. If it feels too dry, add a little water. If it is too soft, add a little flour.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, continue kneading if needed, then cut into four equal pieces.

Rolling the Sheets with the Atlas+

1. Set the thickness adjustment to 0 and pass one piece of dough through the smooth rollers.
2. Lightly dust both sides of the sheet with flour and fold in half. Feed back through the rollers and repeat several times until the sheet is long and even.
3. Cut the sheet into two pieces and dust both sides lightly with flour.
4. Set the thickness adjustment to 1 and pass through once. Increase the setting by one and repeat, working up gradually until you reach your required thickness.
5. Fit your chosen cutting attachment and pass the sheet through to cut to shape. The Atlas+ has spaghetti and fettuccine cutters built in; other shapes require a compatible attachment.
6. Cook immediately or leave to dry on a drying rack for at least one hour before storing.

Rolling the Sheets by Hand

1. Dust both sides of a piece of dough with flour and fold in half. Roll out with a rolling pin, repeating several times until the sheet is long and even.
2. Cut the sheet into two pieces and dust both sides lightly with flour.
3. Roll each piece to around 2 to 3mm thickness.
4. Cut to your desired shape using a pasta wheel, spaghetti cutter rolling pin, or similar tool.
5. Cook immediately or leave to dry on a drying rack for at least one hour before storing.

Making Extruded Shapes with the Regina

If you want to make tube or extruded shapes with buckwheat dough, the Marcato Regina is the right tool. It pushes the dough through shaped dies to produce rigatoni, maccheroni, and other shapes that a roller machine cannot cut. Use the same dough recipe above.

Tips

• Do not use eggs straight from the fridge.
• Do not add salt when making the dough.
• The dough is the right consistency when it does not stick to your fingers.
• For fettuccine, use thickness setting 5. For tagliolini, use setting 7.
• The thinnest sheet is achieved at setting 9, feeding the sheet through twice.
• If the rollers will not cut the sheet, the dough is too soft. Add more flour.
• If the rollers will not take the dough in, it is too dry. Add a little water.
• Cook pasta in plenty of water: around 4 litres per 500g.