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| The pale colour seen here in today's entry is due to the lack of eggs in the home-made hilopites (flat noodles). Once dried, we use them just as we would with regular store bought flat noodles. |
From one of our newest favourite cookbooks, Foods from Many Greek Kitchens, we found a version of hilopites that does not include eggs, but is a rather good substitute for the egg noodle. So, we decided to roll out noodles as did our ancestors, with flour, salt, and water. This recipe did have a little oil, and for that you can use any oil you want, but we found that the oil was needed for the overall texture. And, although it took some time to roll and dry, making this recipe was kind of fun. It would also be a great project to do with children or friends. We made enough to make this a side dish for 4 people. You can adjust the recipe as you need.
For this recipe, you will need the following:
1 1/3 cup flour
pinch of salt
3 teaspoons oil
water, as needed
Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Mix it well enough for the salt to be evenly distributed throughout the flour.
Then, add the oil. Try to mix the oil around very well in the flour. You will see lumps start to form, and that will be the indication that it is time to add the water.
Add a little water at a time. That is, add about 1/4 cup water first, then if you need more, add another 1/4 cup, then if you need more, add another 1/4 cup… until you get a soft dough consistency. In total, we added almost 1 cup of water. This amount will change based on the age of the flour and the type of flour (we used all purpose, but you can use bread flour or a rice flour -- both will take different amounts of water.
Mix these ingredients together well enough to form a soft dough. The dough should be soft but not very sticky. It will come together into a ball.
Knead the ball of dough until it is smooth. Knead for about 10 minutes.
Cover the dough with a towel or with plastic wrap and set it aside to rest for 30 minutes.
Now it is time to roll out the hilopites. This should take you about one hour to roll them, cut them, and start to dry them (because they need to dry before cooking).
To roll out the dough, start by sprinkling some flour on your work surface. We worked directly on the kitchen counter. Sprinkle just enough flour to roll out the dough so it does not stick to the counter top. Then, using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a rectangle. The dough should be less than 1/4 inch (about 0.5 cm) thick (see the picture). We could see through the dough, but it still held together. Thin is the key.
Continue to check the dough for stickiness, and dust flour on top and the bottom of the rolled dough. You want to make sure the dough is not sticking to the work surface nor to the rolling pin.
When you get the dough rolled out to less than 1/4 inch thickness, and it looks even all over, then it is time to cut the hilopites. Some people have the talent of being able to cut straight lines. We are not so blessed. So, with the help of a ruler, we are able to cut straight lines and keep them as evenly spaced as we can. The strips of dough that we cut are thin, trying to stay to the traditional size of hilopites, which is small (1/6 inch square). However, we also know that hilopites can be cut larger or smaller, depending on your preferences. Begin by cutting all the rows.
Another note: we used a pizza cutter, but a knife would have been just as easy to use. There are all kinds of tools that you can use to cut dough. We chose the pizza wheel because it rolled along side the ruler with ease, and it was a little less thinking for us.
Once all the rows are cut, it is time to cut horizontally (across) to make the squares. This is the tricky part because fresh dough will move with you. You have to find a way to hold the row in place while cutting across them. This is where the ruler helped in keeping the rows of dough in place for us. You could also do a portion of rows at a time. Just be careful not to squeeze the dough too hard because it will stick to itself, and perhaps even your knife.
Try to stick to the same measure that you used while cutting the first time. You want the hilopites to be as square as you can, and you want to make them the same size all the way through.
Once the hilopites are cut, leave them on the counter to dry. We left ours on the counter overnight, and we used them the second day. They were not as dry as we would have ideally made them. Typically, hilopites take two to three days to dry all the way through the center, to the level of dryness of the ones in packages at the store. But, we have known folks who do not dry them at all and cook very fresh pasta, which really has a different texture. You'll have to decide which is right for you. One Yiayia would put the dough on a bed sheet on the table, and cut the squares on the bed sheet. Then, she would be able to move the sheet to set the table, and put the sheet back after each meal. That sounds like it would be convenient, and something we may try next time!
After the hilopites have dried and they have no moisture left, you can put them in a zipper storage bag to keep for when you want or need them. If we had made traditional hilopites with eggs (egg noodles), the drying process would be key in determining the shelf life of these lovely little noodles.
Cook the hilopites as you would any pasta. Boil them in lightly salted water, drain the water, and then mix them with your favourite sauce. We have fond memories of the smell of burning butter when we think about hilopites. It was the usual topping to burn butter, mix it with the noodles, and top that with a little bit of grated cheese! In another week, we will be able to enjoy that! Now, we will focus on our favourite tomato sauces to pour over our homemade efforts.
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