How do you make homemade noodles with-out a pasta machine?

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), November 30, 2000

Answers

They aren't hard to make. I don't have a recipe handy but they are really easy to find online or in a cook book. Make a mound of flour on a clean surface (shaped kind of like a volcano). Add the called for # of eggs and water as directed. Knead really well and then roll it out nice and thin (don't try to use too much dough at one time...it is better to work with smaller amounts of dough)and then cut with a smooth blade knife or other cutting tool. Let them dry for at least a little bit before cooking and let dry completely before storing. I always use a long handled wooden spoon to hang my noodles over to dry. They need air circulating around them to dry good.

-- Amanda in Mo (aseley@townsqr.com), November 30, 2000.

If you have duck eggs, they make the best noodles.

-- Dianne (yankeeterrier@hotmail.com), November 30, 2000.

I know you didn't want a pasta machine...but IMHO, the Atlas hand cranked machine is a steal at under $30. It makes fresh pasta a quick and easy staple instead of a special labor. In fact I made plenty and dried it for gift-giving last year. Comes with 2 size noodle attachment. Just think about it. Maybe there is a used one somewhere.

-- Anne (HT@HM.com), November 30, 2000.

Lehman's sells a hand-cranked noodle maker for $36.95.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), December 01, 2000.

I'f I'm going to use the noodles fresh rather than dried, I add some baking powder that will puff them up a lot like dumplings, but I leave them small like the size of noodles.

I mix flour, baking powder, salt, freshly ground pepper, and onion powder together dry, then add eggs. I think that most recipes call for more yolks than total eggs, but I just use the whole eggs instead. If I'm short of eggs I sometimes add a little water to stretch them further. The dough should be pretty dry and stiff. I start by mixing them with a flat beater of my KitchenAid, then switch to the dough hook. After they have kneaded a little bit, I let them rest for a few minutes. Then I roll them out thin. To cut them I have a noodle cutter with nine cutting wheels on it. A real nifty gadget. Before I got it, I used a pizza cutter which is much faster than a knife in my opinion.

To dry them, separate them and hang over something, or dry on clean towels.

-- Notforprint (Not@thekeyboard.com), December 01, 2000.

Ok noodles are easy - rolling them out by hand is not!!

One egg per person - add flour and knead until you get a hardish yet elasticy dough (knead, knead, knead)- let rest for about 15 minutes. Now you need a big straight rolling pin and you roll it out until it is paper thin - roll a bit - flip the dough over - spread a dust of flour on the dough - roll - flip dust with flour as neccessary.

My neighbor ( an old italian farmer) is great at this - I tried a few times and boy did we have a big laugh-

i reccomend a pasta machine!

-- kelly (kellytree@hotmail.com), December 01, 2000.

The women on the Norwegian side in my family make noodles that are about an inch wide, several inches (8-12) long and about 1/8 inch (maybe a little more) thick. Very easy and boy are they good with stewed chicken (home grown, not store bought).

-- JLS in NW AZ (stalkingbull007@AOL.com), December 01, 2000.

I love homemade noodles. You all are making me hungry. I don't let mine dry completely, just enough that the outside feels a little harder and use them immediately. They are thicker and taste much better. Have tried drying completely and didn't like the results. If you want to keep some, just freeze them until you need them.

-- beckie (sunshine_horses@yahoo.com), December 01, 2000.

a cheap drying rack if your making a lot is a broom handle between two chairs covered with saran wrap, newspaper, or something and dry them a little that way or all the way

-- Carol in Tx (cwaldrop@peoplescom.net), December 01, 2000.

Kelly's got a recipe like mine, yummy. The Atlas is frequently found at thrift stores. I have purchased two (one for a gift) that way. I think I paid as much as $14. The Atlas is cool because it can cut down on all that kneading and rolling, and it slices too! You just put the dough through the Atlas four or five times on the widest setting, folding it over each time, and it will get that special, and necessary, smoothly elastic texture that makes for the best noodles. Then run the dough through progressively thinner settings, finishing with the slicer. Voila! If you really can't afford or find an Atlas or Mercato (essentially the same thing), roll out the dough as directed above, then roll it up like a jelly roll and cut off slices as thin as the noodles you're after. Speeds cutting considerably.

-- Laura Jensen (lauraj@seedlaw.com), December 01, 2000.

OK so a pasta machine would be a great help. I'll start looking for one. There's a thrift store up in the big city.

My grandma used to make some and often added to chicken to make dumplins. I miss grandma. (passed away in '96)

Thanks friends, appreciate your help.

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), December 01, 2000.

heres a little trick my hubby taught me on drying homemade noodles....put in oven on low heat (200) til dry,then cut!!!

-- Beth Weber (talmidim88@hotmail.com), December 01, 2000.

I use my wooden clothes drying rack to dry my noodles--I cover the rods with plastic wrap or clean tea towels, I put clean papers on the floor where I sit my rack & you can sit the rack close to a heat sorce & it takes your noodles less time to dry. Sonda in Ks.

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), December 01, 2000.

I make mine this way....One can of evaporated milk (always on our shelves), four eggs, a teasoon of salt, and enough flour to make a stiff dough. Roll it out to cut into noodles, or....if you don't have the time or want the mess....just dump it into boiling broth by the spoonful, and cook until done. My youngest can eat these until he is pratically comatose!

-- Leann Banta (thelionandlamb@hotmail.com), December 02, 2000.

I use just eggs and flour--tastes great, easy (sort of). I use about six eggs for the four of us, and enough flour to make it really stiff. My ex-mother-in-law used to just pinch off bits of dough into boiling liquid because she didn't like to roll and cut.

-- Teresa in TN (otgonz@bellsouth.net), December 02, 2000.

Ok, I made noodles today for the first time ever. They turned out pretty well. At least the kids all liked them! I served them with seasoned, diced tomatoes (canned) with a frozen cube of basil and some chicken breast left overs added in.

Next time I will try adding onion powder to the flour.

I'll also have to try making them by adding the eggs in the flour "volcano" as mentioned. My Granma and my Mother make biscuits that way. Always amazed me. Just make a hole in the flour and pour in the buttermilk and some oil then stick your fingers in and pull at the edges until the batter is thick enough. Granma always had just enough dough to fit just enough biscuits in the cast iron skillet then popped them in the oven.

-- Heather (heathergorden@hotmail.com), December 05, 2000.

The volcano method is really the "correct" way to make homemade noodles (at least all the italians I know make it that way!!)

-- kelly (kellytree@hotmail.com), December 07, 2000.

My grandmother used to make what she called Kaponke[spelling? she was Austrian]. My oldest couldn't say Kaponke when he was very young so at our house this has always been "monkey soup". Mix a couple eggs with flour and a pinch of salt until it is the consistency to slowly dripple off the end of a spoon. Slowly drizzle this into homemade chicken broth that is just simmering. Doesn't take any time to cook and it is one of those satisfying comfort foods. Tastes as good as rich eggnoodles prepared the long way. Doesn't work very well for Italian dishes, tho.

-- Artie Ann Karns (rokarns@arkansas.net), December 07, 2000.