Homemade Mennonite Noodles and White Sauce

Until the last couple years, I've always aimed to have dinner ready by around 6pm. You know, normal dinner time. And I never thought I'd do this, but since having kids, I've had to change dinner time to more like 5pm. I feel like Seinfeld's parents in Del Boca Vista, but you do whatever you have to in order to keep the kids from endlessly whining.

So today at 4:40pm - 20 minutes before the usual planned supper time - I called my sister.

Quick. I need your recipe for pinchy noodles. I haven't made them in forever and I don't have time to try to find the recipe.

So... these didn't turn out to be pinchy noodles and... the recipe she gave me was - she mentioned much later - for semolina flour and not all-purpose... but... here is a recipe that works for all-purpose.


Also, I should mention the very important fact that this is a Mennonite recipe. So it includes a cream gravy, which you can make with butter or sausage drippings. Using sausage drippings will make this dish more authentically Mennonite (the low German for the sauce is shmaufat) but using butter is perfectly acceptable.

I should also note that these noodles are one of those meals our kids eat and then ask for seconds!

Mennonite Noodles and White Sauce

For the noodles:
1 ½ C flour
3/4 tsp salt
3 eggs

Stir together flour and salt. Add eggs and mix together, using hands if necessary. Turn onto floured surface and knead until dough is smooth.

Roll dough on floured surface until quite thin. Sprinkle with flour. Starting from a long end, roll dough like a jellyroll. Using a knife or a pair of kitchen shears, cut coils of dough 1/8 -1/4 inch thick.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add noodles and cook until done, about 3 - 5 minutes. Drain and toss with a pat of butter or glug of oil.

For the sauce:
2 tbsp butter or drippings from sausage
2 tbsp flour
1 to 1½ C milk
½ to 1 C sour cream

Melt butter in saucepan on medium-high heat, or if using sausage drippings, heat up in saucepan. Add flour and stir with a whisk. Add milk slowly, whisking constantly until sauce is quite thin. Allow sauce to come to a boil, stirring quite frequently. Once sauce is thick, finish off with sour cream and heat through.

Serve with noodles and farmer sausage.

Enjoy!