Film Friday: Low-Sodium Pasta Breadsticks

I’ve been showing off a lot lately.

Not my dance moves. Not my drawing skills (which are limited to stick figures). And definitely not anything to do with math or game theory or anything with numbers. Numbers scare me. So do ants, but that’s besides the point.

Instead, I’ve been over-broadcasting my love for low-sodium pasta breadsticks. If you live in LA, Sacramento, Seattle, or Washington DC, you may have seen me on TV talking about these breadsticks. Eating these breadsticks. And gushing about these breadsticks.

Seriously, they may be one of my most ingenious low-sodium inventions yet and one of the coolest ways to use leftover pasta.

And I’ve really enjoyed hearing from all of you who caught sight of these breadsticks and want the low-down on how to make them. And I don’t blame you.

They’re super easy, they’re total lookers, and will prove a real show stopper at any party.

People are always surprised by the transformation. And the taste. And when you compare them to the typicaly high sodium breadsticks from the store, which look way boring in comparison, this version is a no brainer for your next party.

Instead of just giving you a recipe, though (which you can find below), I wanted to do something special to celebrate these low-sodium pasta breadsticks and to mark their official end of ever appearing on TV again. Ever. Maybe.

Now they will live on the interweb indefinitely instead.

So please enjoy my first food film which was created with the help of this amazing new app from Frameographer and Studio Neat. It was so much fun to make that you can definitely expect many more low-sodium, how-to, stop-action videos in the future. And I’m very excited to unveil this world premiere, to you, today.

Press play. Bake up some pasta. And as always, chow on.

LOW-SODIUM PASTA BREADSTICKS

Ingredients

• Handful of pappardelle pasta or sheets of lasagna (Note: I’ve never made them with whole wheat or gluten-free noodles. Typically use white flour or egg noodles. But feel free to try with other brands and let us all know how it goes in the comments below)
• Olive oil
• Salt-free spices, my favorites: Penzey’s Mural of Flavor, dried dill, smoked paprika, Mrs. Dash Lemon Pepper

Directions

Preheat your oven to 450dg F and cover a baking sheet with some parchment paper.

Then fill a medium pot with water, bring to a boil, and cook up the pappardelle pasta or full sheets of lasagna for 6 to 8 minutes, or according to package. Immediately drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking.

When cool to the touch place your pasta in a bowl or on a plate. If you used lasagna, either cut into long strips or into cracker shapes. Drizzle with oil; sprinkle with your favorite no-salt seasoning; and use your hand to cover all the pasta noodles with the oil and the seasoning.

Place the noodles in a single layer on the parchment paper and place in the oven to cook for 15 minutes. Depending on the size of the noodles or the crackers, they may bake more quickly, so give them a check at 10 minutes to make sure everything is looking golden, not burned.

Like magic, the pasta will puff up into crunchy breadsticks. Remove from the oven and set on a plate or in a tall glass and serve to your cocktail party guests immediately.

+ Sodium Count: Sodium-free. Yippee!