Noodles from Scratch

If you're like me and spent approximately $750* on a heritage turkey to feed 15 relatives, then you certainly made full use of the bird, including transforming the carcass into a big batch of stock. And having done this, the only logical next step would be to make some homemade egg noodles to serve with it.

This old recipe card appealed to me for two reasons: One, I love homemade egg noodles (which I've only had once, purchased from a roadside stand in Pennsylvania en route to take my son to a rural skateboard camp years ago), and Two, I love creating something from nothing, i.e., common ingredients.  And there's a third reason, as well, and that's the idea of recapturing the secrets of the past, the elemental lowest-common-denominator of skills needed to make something we normally buy without a second thought.  (What if egg noodles disappeared from the selves? Or your local store was wiped out in a hurricane?  What then?)

All you need are three ingredients:  Flour, eggs and salt.  Mix them all together.  Knead the mixture well on a floured board and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Roll the dough out at thin as possible.  You do not need any special pasta machine to accomplish this, just a flat surface and a rolling pin (or, in a pinch, a wine bottle).

Place the dough on a cloth and let it dry out a bit. Don't worry if you've got a hole in it.

With a very sharp knife, cut the dough into strips.

You can drop these directly into stock and let boil for five to ten minutes, or boil these in salted water, drain and top with a pat of butter.  And then enjoy the best egg noodles of your life.

*That $750 is a slight exaggeration.