Homemade egg noodles, however, are more user-friendly than the pasta mentioned above and can easily be made without a machine. The dough is more tender and mixes with little effort; the kneading and rolling process takes less time and also requires much less elbow-grease.
Deciding what to do with the end product, a sheet of noodle dough, is a lot of fun. It can be cut to make narrow or wide strips, squares for filling or even cut into shapes. I love to hang cut pasta strips to dry...they looks beautiful, in a rustic sort of way, and connect me with people all over the world who also make pasta by hand.
Egg noodles plump up as they cook; their taste and texture surpass the commercial products.
1 C flour
1 1/2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
Water
Stir flour with oil, salt, and eggs. Add 2 T water to make a stiff dough. (More water might be necessary; add by tsp.). Turn dough out on a well- floured surface and knead for a minute (20 times), until smooth. Place in a plastic bag and allow to rest for 20 minutes. Roll dough on a floured surface into a 20"x14" rectangle. Fold dough in half, 10x14 and fold again to 5x14 rectangle. Cut folded dough into crosswise into 1/2 " strips or size desired.
Unfold strips and place on a drying rack or on paper towels. (You may lay them across a wooden spoon, supported in such a way that the noodles hang down freely). Dry noodles for an hour or overnight. Store dry noodles in a air-tight container or use immediately.
To cook, bring a large pot of water to a boil and drop desired amount of noodles into it. Stir gently to separate noodles. Bring back to the boiling point and cook 3-5 minutes until tender, but not mushy. Drain and serve with sauce or butter or add to your favorite soup.*
*(Soup pictured above is a lemon grass-flavored chicken broth with baby spinach and green onion. The noodles were cooked in water, drained and added to the broth).
*(Soup pictured above is a lemon grass-flavored chicken broth with baby spinach and green onion. The noodles were cooked in water, drained and added to the broth).
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