GF: Homemade pasta – two ways!


Does your family have a “favorite hot dish”? My family did when I was growing up. I have no idea why it is called “Favorite Hot Dish” (I’m the youngest, I probably didn’t get to vote… LOL) nor, as an adult, do I think this is a even a example of my mom’s cooking. Rather, I now think of it as a shining example of how my mom knew how to stretch the grocery budget well.

Our family “Favorite Hot Dish” (aka casserole) is simple:
1 can condensed Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can (use the soup can) milk
1 can tuna (packed in spring water)
and practially 1 whole bag of crunchy chow mein noodles.
Bake until golden brown on top (350? 30 minutes?) and smother in butter.

Ahhhhhh… the 70s and early 80s were good, huh?

When my love and I first started living together, I made “Favorite Hot Dish” for him. I told him I needed chow mein noodles from the store. Let’s just say, American-style chow mein noodles are NOT what a Chinese-American looks for when you ask for “chow mein” noodles from the store. But, we did get them. I did bake it. I smothered our servings in butter. He looked at it with dubious eyes and then dug in. (He had to… it was the only thing I made for dinner.) And the next night, he ate more. Love that man.

I haven’t had “Favorite Hot Dish” since. Not that I have been walking around craving it. (I’ve had other cravings… easy to find cheesy pizza (I can make my own.. but on some lazy nights! OH, what I wouldn’t give!), buttermilk biscuits (mmmm), etc. However, this past week. It hit me. The desire for something homey. Something… omg.. I wanted “Favorite Hot Dish”. However, no GF crunchy chow mein noodles = no GF Favorite Hot Dish.

And then I saw this post.. and started craving ravioli. So, I started making pasta. Then, I realized that I could make some homemade chow mein noodles (American style) and make my own Favorite Hot Dish!

Wahoo! It worked.

Here’s the pasta recipe I used. Don’t get me wrong. Making pasta is easy. Making it into spaghetti strands… bah… takes a little bit of time and a lot of patience. 🙂

Home-made Pasta
Ingredients:
2 cups GF Flour Mix
2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup + water

Directions:

  1. Mix together all ingredients in a food processor until a dough forms.
  2. Add water until the dough is soft, but not sticky.
  3. Roll dough out with pasta press and then put through the spaghetti cutter (all KitchenAid Mixer options) OR roll out until your desired thickness (the thinner the better) and slice into “home-style” pasta. (This second one is our family favorite for turkey noodle soup after Thanksgiving!)

Either:
1. Cook right away (3-4 minutes in boiling water)
or
2. Dry

To dry the pasta:

  1. Put pasta strands/noodles into a bowl and sprinkle with sweet rice flour.
  2. Gently use your hands to toss the noodles with the sweet rice flour to coat the noodles lightly.
  3. Lay on wax paper in small piles and leave out overnight. In the morning, gently rotate the piles to expose the bottom to air to dry during the day.

To make chow mein noodles:

  1. Fry the dried pasta in an inch of oil in batches until slightly browned and crunchy.
  2. Use fried noodles in salads, on top of soup, etc. (or in Favorite Hot Dish!)

😉
Happy eating all –
Kate

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