Red lentil flour

Red lentil flour is flour milled from red lentils (Lens culinaris), lentils whose seed coat has been removed so that the orange-red seed inside shows; in pasta it is the base of many legume pastas made without wheat. Because the hull is removed, the flour is bright orange and has a mild, slightly sweet taste.

Lentils are one of the oldest crops of the Near East; according to FAO, the largest producers today are Canada, India and Australia. For flour the hulled, usually split lentils are cleaned and finely ground.

Red lentils are rich in protein: about 24 g per 100 g of dry seeds, with plenty of fibre, iron and folate (USDA FoodData Central). Pasta made from red lentil flour therefore contains much more protein than wheat, rice or maize pasta, and it keeps its orange colour after cooking.

Red lentil dough has no gluten, so the pasta is extruded and dried carefully; it cooks quickly and should not be overcooked. Barilla Legumotti grains are made only from red lentil, chickpea and pea flours, and the Delverde 100% Legumi range includes sedani made from red lentils. Such pasta suits salads, vegetable sauces and soups.

Lentils are naturally gluten-free and are not among the 14 allergens that must be highlighted in the EU. Only products labelled "gluten-free", which means no more than 20 mg of gluten per kilogram (Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014), are guaranteed to suit people with coeliac disease.