Black Pepper Buckwheat Pasta

very good. and very good for you

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B is for Superfood! Buckwheat contains flavanoids that have been shown to thwart cancer, it helps prevent blood clotting, it contains high amounts of protein, it contains super amounts of “B” vitamins and it is digested very slowly thus contributing greatly to stabilising blood sugar levels.

It is also gluten free which here is a slight problem because we need that high protein gluten and elasticity. I made a 1:2 mix which also gave a nice flavour (buckwheat and I was using a wholegrain flour with a very strong flavour) tends to have a pronounced nutty flavour.  In actual fact its not a grain at all..its a seed…and strangely, its related to the rhubarb family.

The black pepper delivers a great kick – omit if you are not sure.

Ingredients – for four people

  • 200g durum wheat flour
  • 100g wholemeal buckwheat flour
  • 3 eggs
  • semolina for rolling out and cutting
  • 1 tablespoon of black peppercorns roughly crushed

How To

Mix all ingredients together adding a little more flour or extra beaten whole egg as needed to ensure the correct elasticity.  My flour was very wholemeal so I needed to add a little bit of extra egg.

Knead it really vigorously or, like me, let your food mixer take care of the hard work, on high speed with the dough hook. I let mine go to work for approximately 8 minutes.

I then cut my dough into 4 pieces and rolled each piece out old school with a rolling pin.  This should be like shortcrust pastry in thickness. Make sure you sprinkle liberally with semolina.IMG_5435

Then I gently folded/rolled the sheets to make cutting into ribbons easier and I cut carefully taking care not to press the roll down too much.  I wanted quite thick chunky ribbons. They unfurled nicely.  I let them dry out for about an hour before using them

A Pocket Sized Plafar

It doesn’t get much more small and independent than this….

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For a reminder that life does not revolve around a handful of global brands pop into a Romanian ‘plafar” or a small traditional shop selling natural foods and herbal remedies.  Here I bought honey and have been eating the crystallized “rapita cu papadie” straight from the jar – delish! and even more so with some mature goats cheese (guilty pleasure).

IMG_20140925_180209 You will be assaulted by a cornucopia of unguents, creams, pills, cosmetics, “sirops”, oils, teas, ingredients and in this tiny emporium on Strada Uruguay, their own home produced honey.  These shops are testament to the long tradition of folk medicine in Romania and I for one cannot pass one by without a compulsive stop and inevitable purchase of whatever looks interesting.

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My honey! Coveting this jar.

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