Homemade Noodles and Hamburger Stroganoff

Growing up this was the recipe we would beg my Mom to make for us, and since she admittedly does not like to cook, we would only get to have it once in a blue moon. When we would have it, we three daughters would gather in the kitchen to help make the noodles, stir the sauce and then quickly devour our hard work. We would always be sure to make plenty of extra noodles and sauce because it is just as good reheated the next day. Now I make this as a special treat, with some lightened up ingredients once in a blue moon because I am admittedly too busy to cook! I will always love the combination of chewy rustic homemade noodles, the tangy sour cream sauce, and sauteed onion, garlic and ground meat.

The first step is to prepare the homemade noodle dough, which I did this morning to procrastinate going on my run. This is the only part of this that makes the process too lengthy for a regular weeknight meal, and can be skipped entirely by using egg noodles which make a wonderful substitution. According to my Mom, this is her Hungarian Grandmother's recipe that she made as a side dish every single night.



Budai Family Hungarian Noodles

Ingredients (for every 1 large serving):

- 1 cup flour (any kind, I have used all-purpose, bread, pastry, semolina)
- 1 egg
- 1 to 3 tablespoons water
- pinch of salt

Directions:

Simply mix the above ingredients together until you have a semi-sticky yet workable ball of dough. That is it. Sometimes when I am really lazy I whir it around in the food processor with the dough blade a few times. Two servings of the resulting dough will look like this:

Then you (or in my case you have your boyfriend) roll out the dough in sections, I never worry too much about getting it perfectly thin or even (but the boyfriend does), I kind of like my homemade noodles to have a little bite to them.

Then to cut the dough, add lots of flour to both sides, and roll up each section. Then take each roll and slice it into thick, roughly cut strip.

When you unroll them you will have your noodles!

 Once your sauce is prepared, add the noodles to a boiling pot of water and let them rise back up to the top. I usually cook them for about 5 minutes.

Then voila, top with your favorite sauce or like we do, the hamburger stroganoff recipe below!





Hamburger (Turkey) Stroganoff


Ingredients:

- 1 lb ground meat (growing up we used beef, now I like to use lean beef, chicken or turkey breast)
- 1 yellow or sweet onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup (I use 98% fat free)
- 8 oz sour cream (I use light, fat free doesn't quite have enough oomph, and regular tastes the best)

Directions:

1) In a heavy bottomed skillet saute onion (I use cooking spray, but both olive oil and butter would work well) over medium heat until softened

2) Add garlic and saute for 1 minute
3) Salt and pepper the ground meat to taste then add to skillet, break up and cook through
4) Drain excess liquid 
5) Add cream of mushroom soup and sour cream and stir to combine

6) Reduce heat and simmer while you prepare noodles

That is it! It is actually a very simple and delicious meal. It can be easily adapted by using different meats, adding mushrooms, peas or spinach, or even using different types of soup.