Fettuccine Low Carb Pasta

So I’m almost a little afraid to post this because it’s just so crazy.  This is probably the easiest recipe on the face of the earth.  It’s just two ingredients much like regular pasta except we aren’t going to be using flour.  We’re using cheese.  I know.  It’s crazy.   I’ll explain.

One cup of cheese (112 grams) per one egg yolk.  That’s it.   How can this work?

The magic is in the yolk.  The yolk makes all things possible.  I’ve never loved chickens more in my life than I do right now. The yolk is why my one minute cookie recipes firm up so well.  The yolks are what make my brownie recipe chewy.  It’s a fantastic ingredient!  So you melt the cheese, wait 30 seconds and add the yolk. Then with a rubber spatula press and fold the yolk into the melted cheese.  Do this A LOT.  Make sure it’s completely mixed in.  When it starts to get stringy that just means it’s cooling down.  You will need to reheat the cheese for 10-30 seconds (my microwave is 1200 watts and I did 10 seconds) before you roll it out.  Don’t roll it absurdly thin. If it’s too thin it can break apart when you boil it.  We’re going to boil cheese!? Yes!

First we need to let the pasta dry.  Regular pasta dries within 30 minutes.  This pasta takes a few hours. Update: Tested the fridge method again today and it works perfect so I am now going to recommend using the fridge instead of leaving it out.  I did 4 hours in the fridge today and it was just fine. I have a sneaking suspicion that I could have boiled them sooner than that and I will test again and update times if necessary!.   If you’re freaked out about leaving something with egg yolk out that long you can go ahead and let it dry in the fridge.  It doesn’t change the end result.  I have already tried this once before left out for 4 hours, in the fridge overnight, and boiled the next day and I am still alive.  I have the boiling time set to one minute to make damn sure I don’t poison myself or anyone else.  (Standard disclaimer applies here for risks of food born illnesses and raw egg.  There should be no issues here but the raw egg sitting out gives me a little pause because although I think it should be ok I’m not 100% sure, so please use the fridge method if you have any concerns at all.) 

Once it’s dry you can put it in a ziploc bag and store it in the fridge.  I wouldn’t let it sit too long because of the raw egg factor.  A day or two should be fine.

 You will be able to tell that it’s done drying when it’s not as shiny.  When you pick it up it will be fairly firm but not completely hard like flour pasta.   

Isn’t this amazing? The cheese doesn’t fall apart because of the egg yolk!  As soon as the timer goes off strain and then rinse it with cold water.  You will need to heat it up again when you’re ready to eat.  It heats up very quickly! If you’re anything like me then you will feel slightly apprehensive about eating a bowl of cheese! Lol.  But one cup isn’t absurdly high in calories at all and only comes to 2 carbs.  I guess I still do have some of that low fat dogma baggage in me. I was surprised to see the calories weren’t astronomical. 

Does it taste like cheese? The noodles are very very plain as is mozzarella cheese.  It tastes more like mozzarella than it does egg and with the pasta sauce on top it just tastes like pasta.  The cheese gives it the springiness that you expect in an al dente pasta.  It has the mouth feel of pasta. When it hit the back of my throat as I was swallowing it convinced me that I was eating pasta.  This is what’s most important.   The noodles will take on the flavor of any sauce you use.  This opens the door for SO many possibilities.  More importantly it will kill a pasta craving.   The inspiration for this recipe came from one of my readers named Tanya.  She originally did a test using the Quesadilla dough recipe.  Once she told me that she had tried drying it for several hours and that it held together for boiling I immediately went out and bought five bags of shredded mozzarella.  The quesadilla dough makes it a little too bready and that’s how I evolved that concept into simply cheese and a yolk.  And it works! Thank you Tanya for sharing your ideas and experiments!  I have never been more nervous while staring at the publish button!!! I hope this is one that everyone will like.  

Little Update:  Sarah from The Primitive Palate has developed a similar recipe that I have heard great things about!