Egg Noodles

Homemade pasta is very inexpensive and egg noodles are probably the easiest, most forgiving 1st time pasta recipe a beginner can make! They can be easily altered with various spices and seasoning blends to make any meal tasty on a very meager budget. Here’s how to make them without a pasta roller. . .

Before we begin, I wanted to make a note about the ingredients. This recipe calls for all purpose flour, mainly because it’s cheaper than almost any other type of flour, it’s readily available to nearly everyone (everywhere!), and its easy to work with. Of course you could use Semolina Flour or Whole wheat flour (add an extra TBS of milk) but if you just want basic, delicious buttery egg noodles, all purpose flour will work just fine.
This recipe also calls for milk- you can use powdered/instant dry milk in place of the milk if you’d prefer. Either reconstitute it first or mix the dry milk in with the flour. I recommend reconstituting it first, it will blend better.

You’ll Need:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 pinch salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk (or 2 Tbs Instant Dry Milk + 1/2 c. Water)
1 tablespoon butter

I prefer to make pasta on a wooden cutting board, but this particular recipe starts out messy if you use that method, so for the sake of easy cleanup, we’re using a medium size bowl instead.

Combine the flour and salt in the bowl, make a well in the center and add the beaten eggs, milk and butter (melted or not, it doesn’t matter). Mix the dough until it forms a ball and knead it gently until smooth, about 5 minutes. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.

This is a great time to get your water boiling, don’t forget to add a pinch of salt to the water.

Alternatively you can use a Pasta Rollerfor this next step. Lightly flour a hard surface (counter-top, large smooth cutting board, pastry board, etc) and roll the pasta out to 1/8th – 1/4″ thickness. Using a pizza cutter, cut into long, thin strips to form noodles.

Allow to air dry before cooking. To cook fresh pasta, in a large pot with boiling salted water cook until al dente.

GroceryBudget101 Price Breakdown:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (5lb bag $1.65/ 20 cups = .08¢ per cup) = 20¢ for this recipe
1 pinch salt – negligible
2 eggs, beaten {free for us} ($1.09 average in the US = 09¢ per egg) = 18¢ for this recipe
1/2 cup milk – (gallon of milk = $3.28/16 cups in a gallon) = 10¢ per 1/2 c for this recipe
1 tablespoon butter (1 pound Real butter, bought on sale during the sales cycles $1.98/ 32 Tbs)= 06¢ per Tbs for this recipe

Total spent to make Pasta for 4-6 People $0.54, that’s 13.5¢ per Serving

Tips & Seasonings:

If you don’t have a pasta machine, which is quite helpful, the dough can be rolled by hand. We do recommend having a set of rolling pin spacers to help get the right thickness for your pasta throughout. Pasta “Plumps” when it cooks, doubling or tripling in thickness, which can result in a very thick noodle if it’s not rolled thinly enough.

Seasoning Ideas: Each of the dry seasonings should be mixed with the flour and salt, prior to adding the wet ingredients.

• Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of Pizza Seasoning to Make Pizza Egg Noodles, serve with Marinara sauce over the top
• Add 1 1/2 tsp Bay Seasoning, serve with a Shrimp Sauce and Sauteed Shrimp over the top
• Add 1 tsp Freshly Cracked Black Pepper & 1/2 tsp crushed Rosemary , serve with butter & garlic sauce
• Add 1 tsp cinnamon + 1/4 tsp cloves, serve with sauteed apples over the top and Grilled Pork

What are your favorite flavor ideas?

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