Egg Noodles

01/11/2017
Serves 4 people
Equipment
pasta machine
pasta drying rack of some kind
sharp paring knife or kitchen scizzors
Prep time
1h 30m
Cook Time
10m

Don’t be intimidated: these are easy!  The hardest thing about making egg noodles is making the time it takes to make them.  The recipe and the actual making of them is super easy, and the finished product is impressive!  Enjoy!

  


Ingredients

  • 4
    egg yolks
  • 3 - 4 Cups
    all purpose flour
  • 1 Teaspoon
    salt
  • 1/2 Cup
    warm water

Instructions

  1. Set up your pasta drying rack. My grandmother used a broomstick suspended over the backs of dining room chairs. My husband made a fine rack for me out of the slats of some leftover closet shelving. You could simply lay out sheets of wax paper or parchment, lightly floured, on your counter or dining room table. You could get pretty imaginative with this.

    I am a sucker for this finely engineered "Marcato" pasta drying rack. It works like a dream, sits on my counter, and folds away neatly to live on top of my fridge. Whatever you are going to use for your noodles to lay upon to rest and dry, set it up first.

  2. You can simply use all-purpose flour, or you can use this super finely ground flour that I like, but you might have to order it on Amazon if you can't find it in specialty stores. I like this brand, but it's the "00" that makes it special (extra fine ground), so that is what you want to look for if you're looking.

    For last night's meal, I made two batches, one with the "00," and one with regular all purpose flour, and cooked them together. Not one of us could tell the noodles apart. I think I can tell them apart in the rolling process, but it takes a finer chef than I to discern them after they have been cooked and covered in stroganoff.

  3. Using a cutting board or other flat, washable surface, make a "well" with your flour. You may need extra flour on hand if your dough is too sticky to handle, so don't put it away yet.

    Sprinkle the salt into the flour.

  4. Place your egg yolks in the center of the well.

  5. Beat the yolks, gently, with a fork, and add a little water at a time. The mixture will grab flour from the well as you beat it together.

  6. In a few minutes, your mixture will be "shaggy," or very well mixed and sticky. Use your hands to coax the flour into the wet mixture, and knead gently as it comes together.

  7. Knead your dough a few times, turning it into the flour on your board, until it becomes soft and less sticky.

  8. Cut it into two sections and wrap one loosely in plastic wrap so that it doesn't dry out while you're working with the other section of dough.

  9. Put your pasta machine on the lowest level (so that the opening is as wide as it gets). On my machine, which is a KitchenAid pasta maker attachment to my stand mixer, that's level 1. I love the KitchenAid attachment because the motor in the mixer allows me to make pasta by myself.

    The manual hand-crank machine is a beautiful thing, and my mother would never give hers up, but it does require an extra hand to turn the crank while you have both hands on the dough. Whichever you are privileged to have, the attachment and motor or the manual with a helper, the end result will be the same: gorgeous.

  10. Feed the dough through on the lowest level a few times, dusting with flour and folding over on itself as you go. It will become less shaggy and more silky each time you feed it through. This job requires a ton of patience. Send loving kindness to your noodles and they will reward you kindly.

  11. Once you feel that the first level has done all it can, cut your now fairly long strip of dough in half. It's going to get a lot longer, and you won't be able to manage it unless you cut it now.

  12. Leave one half on your cutting board and continue with the other half. Advance the level on your machine by one (so, up to level 2 on the KitchenAid machine). The speed of your mixer, if you are using the stand mixer, should remain on the lowest setting the whole time. If you are using a hand-crank machine, you get to control the speed yourself.

    Feed the dough through the next level, once or twice, depending on how it's doing. Use one hand to feed the dough, and the other to catch it as it comes through the machine. If the dough tears or gets sticky, dust with flour before you feed it through again. Repeat this process until you get to level 5.

  13. Once your dough has passed through level 5, lay it down on your floured cutting board and turn the machine back to level 2, and work on the other half of your dough, until it reaches level 5. Then, switch to the cutting attachment.

  14. Feed the now very thin dough through the cutting attachment (you can make your noodles as wide or as thin as you like) and hang the cut noodles up to dry!

  15. Repeat with the second half of your dough.

  16. Cooking these fresh noodles will be very quick, compared to dried, store bought noodles. Once your water is boiling, they will be cooked in about 3 - 5 minutes. Keep a close eye on them and pull them out as soon as they change color (they become a shade lighter) and begin to float. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and top with a few pats of butter and some beef stroganoff, and enjoy!

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