Homemade Whole Wheat Noodles

Last night for dinner I made chicken noodle soup in the crockpot.  And I decided to try making homemade noodles to use in it.  I had seen a recipe on Heavenly Homemakers that looked easy and healthy.  And it was!  I love that these noodles are soaked.  And they are actually very easy to make.  Plus it makes quite a bit, so I have a bunch on hand now.  These were great in the soup.  They would work well for other dishes as well, casseroles, with alfredo sauce, beef stroganoff...all sorts of stuff.  I'm glad I tried these.  I will definitely make them again and again.  We all really liked them.  Even Rebecca polished off her whole bowl of soup...very rare around here :P

Whole Wheat Noodles

2 1/3 cups whole wheat flour (I use freshly ground flour)
1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 beaten eggs
1/3 cup water (or cultured dairy for soaking) (I used kefir)
1 tsp. olive oil

To soak grains:

Use the same ingredients, substituting the water with a cultured dairy product like buttermilk or plain yogurt. Mix (as described below) in a bowl, knead for a minute or two, then cover with a towel and let it sit for 12-24 hours.  Proceed with rolling step.

To make without soaking grains:

First mix the flour and salt together in a bowl and make a little”pit” in the middle.

Beat your eggs in a separate bowl, then pour them into the flour mixture.

Add the water (or buttermilk) and olive oil.

Stir well until the ingredients are mostly combined.

Dump it out onto a floured surface and knead it a little bit to get the ingredients combined well.
If soaking grains start here after dough has soaked.

Make sure your surface has a LOT of flour all over it so that your noodles won’t stick when you roll out the dough. Sticky noodles are not fun.  (I just used lightly floured silpat to roll mine.  Worked very well.)

Use a well floured rolling pin and roll and roll and roll until your noodle dough is almost hanging off the side of your counter top. Or at least until it is very thin, about 1/8 inch in thickness. You may need to keep tossing some flour under the dough as you roll to keep it from sticking.

Use a pizza cutter to cut long strips in the noodle dough.  Cut your noodles any length you want.
Once you’ve cut your noodles you can either use them right away, or you can let them dry so that you can store them and have them ready for when you need them.

You can use a dehydrator to dry the noodles, or you can just leave them on the countertop to dry if you want. It will take a while…like several hours or even an entire day. You may also need to turn the noodles over after a few hours so that the under side can dry.

Once the noodles are completely dry, store them in an air tight container in your pantry. They will stay good for up to a month. They can also be frozen….just let them thaw a little before you cook them.

To cook your noodles:

Bring six cups of chicken, beef or vegetable broth to a boil. (I like to include cooked meat and veggies in my broth too when I add noodles.) Stir in the noodles, making sure they don’t stick to each other. Salt well. Cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the noodles are fat and tender. (I put mine in the crockpot about 40 min. before dinner.)