[This post is sponsored by my favorites, Bob’s Red Mill! We’re using their perfect Organic Ivory Wheat Whole Wheat Flour for this Homemade Whole Wheat Vegan Pasta.]
We’re doing it! Homemade pasta in the houuuuse!
Man. This has been a post in the making if I’ve ever seen one. I’ve been working on this bad boy for months, and I’m so thrilled to be able to share it with you today!
To be fair, I tried to post this before Father’s Day (and you’ll see why in a bit), but it’s better late than never. Mark my words, friend.
So! Homemade pasta! Actually ridiculously super fun to make and weirdly easy too? I was shook.
My dad is very proud of his Italian roots. Like, so proud. So much so, that he and my mom travel to the Motherland quite a bit. They learned to make pasta one of the last times they were in Italy, so I decided he should teach me as well.
So I, in turn, could teach my internet friends how!
But, I suggested two small twists:
- Making the pasta vegan
- Using whole wheat flour
Okay, to be fair, these weren’t “small” twists at all; they flip the traditional Italian pasta recipe on its head. But my dad was up to the task, so I headed over to my childhood home, asked my brother to photograph the whole thing, and got down to business.
I’m so tickled with how the recipe turned out, and I can’t wait for you to try it for yourself! But first! Some important, nerdy recipe notes:
How to make homemade vegan pasta
Typically homemade pasta is made with egg, but what do we say to the God of Homemade Vegan Pasta? Not today.
No eggs were used in the making of this pasta! Instead we’re using a special mix of olive oil, water, and salt to act as our egg replacer.
The oil helps enrich the dough, much like an egg yolk, and the water helps bring everything together. I also liked adding a pinch of salt into the mixture to help it come together.
We actually ended up using a lemon-flavored olive oil, which was super fun, but regular ol’ olive oil would work just as well!
After you measure out your flour (more on that in a sec), you’ll create a little well in the center of your flour mound, then pour your olive oil/water mixture in the well. You’ll slowly incorporate the flour into your olive oil/water mixture until it becomes a dough. Easy as that!
How to make homemade whole wheat pasta
Pasta dough is typically made with 00 flour – that’s pronounced double oh here in the US or doppio zero if you’re in Italy.
It’s this crazy-fine, protein-rich flour that makes tender, pliable homemade noodles.
Whole wheat flour, on the other hand, is more coarse, less protein-rich, and just a bit tougher to work with.
But when I have a whole wheat need, I know exactly who to turn to…Bob’s Red Mill!
Their Organic Ivory Wheat Whole Wheat Flour is truly outstanding – it’s 100% white whole wheat flour, so it’s just a bit lighter and tender than regular whole wheat flour.
I loooove this stuff for a ton of other baking endeavors (like this!), but now that I know I can make whole wheat pasta with it, I’m absolutely 100% keeping it stocked in my pantry at all times.
After your dough is formed, you’ll fold and press your dough a few times until you have a play-doh-like dough. Form it into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and let it sit in a warm place for 30 minutes to rest. Resting helps the gluten relax and makes it much easier to roll out!
How to make homemade penne without a pasta maker (kinda)
Technically, the pasta you see here is called garganelli. But as you can see, it’s very very close to penne.
While penne is a perfectly closed, pointed cylinder shape, garganelli is folded over itself to look like a little scroll. Isn’t it cute?
While it’s impossible to make the traditional penne shape without a machine, garganelli is pretty darn close. And SO easy to make!
Once you’ve made your dough, let it rest, and rolled it out nice and thin, you’ll cut the dough into 1 and 1/2 inch squares. Take some water and lightly dampen two opposite corners of your square, roll into a scroll shape, and brava! Homemade penne garganelli!
SO fun, right? This was just the best day ever. We had music playing, wine flowing, and smiles all around.
SUCH a fun project to do with loved ones or by yourself if you’re feeling a bit adventurous.
Cooking it takes literally seconds, and once you toss it with a thick, slightly spicy tomato sauce or a light, garlicky olive oil sauce…it’s a beautiful, beautiful thing.
PrintHomemade Whole Wheat Vegan Pasta
Making your own pasta at home is so simple, and this recipe shows you how to make it vegan (egg-free) and whole wheat! This step-by-step process walks you though making your own pasta dough, rolling out a sheet of pasta, and making penne-like shapes without a pasta maker!
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 2-3 servings
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Rolling
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
3 and 1/2 tsp. olive oil
6 Tbsp. warm water
pinch salt
200g Bob’s Red Mill Organic Ivory Wheat Flour, plus more for dusting & rolling
Instructions
- Pour your olive oil, warm water, and salt in a small bowl or measuring cup, and whisk to combine.
- Add your flour to a large workspace in a mound and create a well in the center.
- Pour your olive oil/water mixture into the well, and grab a fork. Slowly start pulling the flour from the edges of the well into the olive oil/water mixture. The mixture will start to get thick, just continue incorporating the flour slowly.
- Once the mixture starts to stick to your fork in a big glob, you can grab a bench scraper and start incorporating more flour with your hands. Not all of the flour will be incorporated, and that’s okay. Take away the unused flour and reserve on a clean part of the board. The humidity/temperature in your house will determine how much flour the olive oil/water mixture will take.
- Fold the ball in half and gently press to flatten the ball into a thick fold. Rotate 90 degrees and repeat. Keep rotating (in the same direction) and pressing/folding until the dough is smooth and pliable like fresh play-doh.
- Press and knead the dough until a somewhat smooth, stiff brick of dough forms (I say “somewhat” because the Ivory Whole Wheat Flour still has some texture to it!). Again, it’s okay if you don’t incorporate all of the flour – you only should use as much as your olive oil/water mixture will accept. Pull the top surface with both hands to form a smooth ball and fold the edges into the underside of the ball (see the post for an example!). Wrap in plastic and allow to rest in a warm place for 30 minutes.
- Lightly flour a large surface, place your unwrapped dough ball on top, and sprinkle with more flour. Start rolling your dough from top to bottom, but don’t roll all the way to the top and bottom edges as this will dry them out and cause cracking. It’s ok if they are a little thicker than the rest.
- Turn the dough 90 degrees, and again roll from top to bottom. Continue turning (always in the same direction) and rolling from top to bottom until you have a flat, thin sheet of pasta dough – it’ll be about as thick as parchment paper!
- Cut into long 1 and 1/2 inch strands, and then cut those strands into small squares.
- Grab a small bowl of water and wet two opposite corners of one of your squares. Roll your square from dampened corner to dampened corner so that it forms a scroll shape – like a piece of penne that has been rolled instead of cut! Continue with the rest of your squares.
- Dust your pasta with a bit more flour, and then place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze until ready to use. Once frozen, you can transfer them into a freezer bag or cook them.
- To cook: Boil your frozen pasta in salted water until the pasta rises to the top of the boiling water, or until your desired consistency. Toss with your favorite sauce and enjoy!
Huge thanks to my dad for helping with the recipe and to my brother for photographing the whole process!
This sounds like fun and looks beautiful (I love the shape of the pasta) as well as delicious. Do you think it would work if I leave out the salt (I have to watch my sodium intake and leave it out whenever possible)? The information about which flour to use is also very helpful.
I think so!
Good article about cooking foods You may like Wheat pasta
This looks great! excited to try. Since Bob’s Red Mill no longer sells the exact Organic Ivory Wheat Whole Wheat Flour on their website, what is the next best whole wheat option that you would recommend? would regular 100% whole wheat flour still work? or would that make it too dense or negatively affect the texture in some way?
Yeah! You can use their whole wheat. :) Same thing, just a little nuttier and darker in color.
Do you recommend using 100% whole wheat bread flour or just plain 100% whole wheat flour?
Whole wheat! Not bread.
A lot of work when you can buy 100% whole wheat pasta.
For sure! But really fun, especially when family is involved. :)
Thank you for sharing this recipe! We don’t have a freezer – is it possible to skip the freezing step and cook it straight away from fresh?
would this work in Emerals pasta and beyond machine?
Very interested in trying this recipe. Looks like the Bob’s Redmill has discontinued their Organic Ivory whole wheat flour. Can we use any other white whole wheat flour instead? And, I assume this recipe can be used to make homemade ravioli as well, yes?
May I know the nutritional facts on the recipe? Like the calories per serving etc. ?
Hi! I don’t do nutritional facts for my recipes, but feel free to drop it into a tool like MyFitnessPal if you’re curious. :)
I have not made pasta using your recipe yet, but I’m going to try it today for pumpkin ravioli. I would like to offer a suggestion. I have used Bob’s Red Mill whole wheat pastry flour to make pasta as well as pie crust and pancakes, and it works beautifully for almost any purpose.
Love their pastry flour! Glad to hear it works for pasta. Hope the ravioli worked!
Good article about cooking foods You may like Wheat pasta
Thanks for posting the recipe/instructions, I’m making it today for the 1st time. Is the surface of the dough ball supposed to feel oily (mine is)? It’s texture and consistency feel about right. I’ll be letting it sit in the covered bowl until this evening.
Can you dry store this pasta recipe?