Chances are, you’re familiar with mung bean noodles, some clear and some ghostly white, that can be found in abundance at Asian markets. I’ve always been fascinated with the simplicity of their ingredients list, which typically includes only mung beans and water. Making pasta at home has become somewhat of a hobby for me over this past winter, and I was determined to nail down this healthy, protein-rich mung bean version.
The first attempt, which involved just grinding mung beans into flour without sprouting them, resulted in pasta with too beany of a taste that I wasn’t satisfied with. I noticed long ago that sprouting grains and garbanzo beans improves the taste of the resulting flour, so I decided to sprout the mung beans for this pasta as well. My next attempt, made of sprouted flour, was much better and mild tasting, but included eggs, and I didn’t care for the texture.
When I was ready to give up the idea, I bumped into the possibility of using psyllium husks as a binder in gluten free pasta. I gave them a try and it turned out absolutely amazing – a nicely pliable, flavorful, freshly-made pasta, that is very light and gentle on your stomach, and quite easy to make once your flour is ready.
I haven’t tried this yet, but I’m pretty sure that other types of gluten free flours such as quinoa, buckwheat, etc. will work great in this recipe as well.
It may seem like a lot of work to make such flour at home, but in reality what you will mostly have to do is wait until beans sprout and dry. If the process is not for you, however, there are several companies that make sprouted flours and my latest favorite is Blue Mountain Organics. Our local health food store carries and array of their flours and they are not only delicious, but also less expensive than regular flour. For this post, I prepared the pasta with peas and spinach to celebrate spring, but it will work well with your favorite homemade tomato sauce or any other pasta toppings. Happy Spring!
Sprouted Mung Bean Pasta
adapted from here
Serves 6-8
1 tablespoon psyllium husk powder
1 cup sifted sprouted mung bean flour (see below), plus more for rolling out pasta
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for salting water
2 tablespoons coconut oil – 1 tablespoon melted, divided
3-4 cups baby spinach leaves
2 cups fresh or frozen peas
splash of canned coconut milk – optional
freshly ground black pepper
grated Parmesan – optional
1. Mix together psyllium husk powder and 4 tablespoons filtered water in a small bowl. Let thicken while mixing together dry ingredients.
2. Combine flours and salt in a large bowl, mix to combine. Make a well in the center, add 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil, gelled psyllium husk and 4 tablespoons of water. Stir to combine with a fork as much as you can. The mixture will appear dry, but don’t add more water at this point. Begin working with your hands, mixing and kneading the mixture into slightly sticky (but not wet) dough. Add more water, one tablespoon at a time, if you find that it’s absolutely necessary, or more flour if dough seems too wet.
3. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts, keep them wrapped to prevent drying.
4. Working with one portion at a time, roll out on a well floured surface into a paper thin thickness. Cut it into pasta of any desired shape using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife. Sprinkle with more flour to prevent from sticking (the same sprouted mung bean flour or brown rice flour will work great for rolling and dusting).
5. Divide the pasta into two equal portions. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil and cook one portion of fresh pasta at a time for 2 minutes, until al-dente.
6. Meanwhile, heat the remaining coconut oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add half of the spinach, sprinkle with salt and stir to coat. Drain pasta reserving about 1/4 cup of cooking liquid. Add pasta, 2 tablespoons of reserved liquid and splash of coconut milk (if using) to the pan with spinach, stir until spinach is wilted, for a minute or so. Add half of the peas, sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper, stir them in and remove from heat.
7. Serve immediately with freshly grated Parmesan if desired.
Note: You can continue cooking the other portions of pasta in the same manner or keep the remaining dough wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Remove from refridgerator to warm up 15 minutes prior to rolling.
Sprouted Mung Bean Flour
1. Rinse 2 cups of mung beans and place them in a large bowl covered with filtered water, soak overnight.
2. Drain and rinse again, cover with wet kitchen towel and leave to sprout. You should see white tails in 24-48 hours. Make sure to rinse every 8 hours and keep the towel damp. For the purpose of this flour, sprouts don’t need to be large and thick – tiny white tails will be sufficient.
3. When you are satisfied with the look of your sprouts, rinse them thoroughly, drain well and shake off water excess as much as possible. If you have a dehydrator, spread sprouted beans on mesh screen covered trays and dehydrate at 115 F until completely dry.
4. Alternatively, spread on a dry kitchen towel or paper towels and let dry for 24 hours, change towels to dry ones after the first 8 hours. Spread on a baking sheet and continue to dry in the oven at the lowest temperature for a couple of hours, until completely dry.
5. Grind into flour using a high speed blender, mill or coffee grinder (in batches). Sift through a fine mesh strainer.
valentina | sweet kabocha says
I love homemade pasta and having a protein rich and gluten-free one is amazing!
Anya says
Thanks Valentina :)
Josefine says
Mung bean noodles sound amazing. The idea has never occured to me. But I have to try it :)
This looks so delicious
Anya says
Thank you Josefine, hope you enjoy it.
Lindsey says
Wow, Anya, this sounds and looks absolutely wonderful! Mung beans are a favorite around here, so this will definitely be getting made! Thank you for sharing this beautiful recipe :)
Anya says
Thank you Lindsey! I hope it turns out well. And congrats on your book, can’t wait :)
Jessica @jessicatom.com says
Pasta from sprouted bean flour… totally just blew my mind. Nice work!
Anya says
Thank you :)
Dillon says
This is pure genius! I have tried to master gluten-free, vegan, homemade pasta a couple of times and have never been happy with the result. But this recipe looks amazing and it uses sprouted mung beans, no less! Thank you a million times for this brilliant recipe. I will be making it soon.
Anya says
Thank you, psyllium husks really are the magic ingredient in making gf pasta with nice texture!
kristie {birch and wild} says
I love anything with mung beans, and I am so impressed that you sprouted and then made flour with them! Wow, I need to up my game. Can’t wait to try this :)
Anya says
Thank you Kristie :)
Katie says
Beautiful recipe. Just about to make it!Is there anything the tapioca flour could be substituted with?
Anya says
Hi Katie, sorry for the late reply. I haven’t used any other starch in this recipe so I cannot say for sure, but I bet any other starch like corn or potato will work here. Good luck :)
jaime : the briny says
I sprouted buckwheat and made flour from it for the first time just a few days ago. I plan on baking with it, but I’m so glad you shared this recipe for eggless pasta! I’ve got my sprouted mung beans in the dehydrator now and I can’t wait to roll out some pasta. Cheers!
Anya says
Jaime, that’s great! I hope it turns out well.
Anna says
homemade fresh pasta is the best thing ever!!!
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ih says
thanks for sharing..
Felicia @ Ingredient1 says
This is so innovative – homemade pasta is just the best! We’ll have to pass on our usual Cappello’s brand gf pasta and give this a go!
Jennifer says
Hey I love your food blog! Please check out mine and let’s connect?
swedishcavegirl.blogspot.com
Evi @ greenevi says
This is totally genius! Sprouted bean flour!!! Wow ❤️
Shamsher Khan says
Good post! I am also going to write a blog post about this… thanks
Catherine says
I have never been so found of pasta, but I did like this recipe. I will use carrot juice instead of water, just for curiosity! I often prepare sprouted buckwheat and brown rice flour, but it was the first time I used bean flour. Good idea.
signe christensen says
Hi, this looks very nice! Do you think its possible to just blend the sprouted beans, and not dry it, and instead mix with less water?
Anya says
Hi Signe,
Thank you!
I’ve never tried this so I can’t say for sure, but I don’t think it would work, as you need some kind of flour in the mix to make the pasta.
signe christensen says
Okay, maybe i will try. Thank you for your answer!