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Rolled up homemade noodles (kielke or Strudel) with potatoes and sausage



I have my doubts if anyone will actually try this recipe but I wanted to post it for documentation sake.
This recipe originated with Terry's Grandma.
He loved it . . .talked about it. . .asked her to make it for me. . .and she did. . .once.
Shortly after that ... .I made it .. . once. . .20 years ago.
I know of no one else in the extended family that makes it and even when asking my mother in law to recall all the ingredients we had a hard time remembering exactly how it was.
I decided to tackle it yesterday and really .. . it was quite a fun challenge.
After dinner. . . he walked over to our new coffee table book for our grand babies. . and pressed the little pig. . .the little pig immediately oinked. .
He loved it. . .I quite enjoyed it. . . and will likely try it again.

It starts out simply. . .making some homemade noodles.
Noodles
  • 2 1/2 cup flour
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 extra large eggs
  • 1/2 cup milk
Mix all the ingredients to make a hard dough.
It will be easier if you let it rest in between covered with plastic wrap.
I left it for 10 minutes at a time.
When the dough is smooth. . cover it up for a good half hour.
You will need some

    • smoked farmer sausage. . or other Ukrainian style sausage.
    • enough fresh potatoes for your family
    • a large onion
    • a handful of fresh parsley


Roll the dough out very thin. You should be able to barely see the counter underneath.
At this point. . you could simply make noodles by flouring the top of the dough a bit.. .
cutting 2 inch wide strips and layering them and cutting through all the layers to make 1/4 inch wide noodles. . and simply cook them.
. .. but not me. . .oh no. .
I brushed some bacon drippings over the dough and rolled it up. . jelly roll style.

I put the farmer sausage in the pot.

I then chopped up the onion and puit that on top.


. . .diced the potatoes and layered that over the onions.
and then the parsley over that. .
some salt and pepper
and then. .
I added to the pot. . enough water to come half way up the sausage.
I covered the pot and brought the sausage, potatoes and onions to a boil.
Turn down the heat and simmer with the lid on about 15 minutes.

After I rolled up the noodle dough ..
I cut it into 1 inch pieces. . .
next time I would cut it narrower .. perhaps 1/2 inch pieces.

After the potatoes had cooked for about 15 minutes.. .
I lifted the lid and put the noodles on top.
Close the lid quickly. . .you don't want to lose the steam.
Continue to have on a medium low heat for about 20 minutes or until the water has cooked out.
You should start to hear the sausage sizzle. .
it is then finished.
The noodles will be firm but well cooked.
I made a cream sauce of 1/4 cup butter and 1 cup of heavy cream. . simmered until slightly thickened.
I also sauteed some onions. . and of course steamed green beans for .. color and health.
If anyone. . attempts this . . . please leave a comment and let me know how it worked out for you ..
I have done my family duty. .
The recipe is now recorded for future generations. .
No longer will I hear. . .
"no one wrote it down?"

36 comments:

  1. I think you should rename this blog Mennonite girls make ellen hungry. :0)

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  2. brings tears to my eyes....i haven't had this since i was a kid and my oma made it......dare i try to make it?

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  3. I can't say that I have had this before. Looks worth a real try though. I'll have to ask my folks, I bet they have had this. Looks hearty enough for that 'farmer' in me to try!

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  4. Good for you Lovella - I have a few family recipes like that -for example my bread which I learned how to make from Roger's grandmother. It's not written down and I don't measure - I just throw things into the bowl. But I'll have to figure it out one of these days for posterity.

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  5. I agree with Ellen! Only add my name too :)

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  6. Lovella, you made that recipe you were dreaming about! It looks absolutely delicious to enjoy on a nice rainy day in a warm kitchen.
    I've never made homemade noodles, but you gave easy enough instrucitons for me to possibly try.

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  7. Wow...that looks very yummy. I'm not really sure how you managed to do anything besides cooking that dish yesterday...it looks like quite a challenge!

    That is a new recipe for me...but I will get my SIL to check it out and see if it looks familiar to her.

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  8. Looks fabulous! I will try this one. I can actually taste the flavor through the pictures. Kathy

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  9. It sure looks tasty - all my favorite ingredients in it too: noodles, sausage, potatoes and green beans!

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  10. Lovella...I just had to let you know I tried your recipe today and it was a huge hit. Though hesitant,I decided to invite my son & daughter-in-law over because it looked like so much food. Well, there was hardly any to put away...unfortunately!!
    I wasn't quite brave enough to leave the noodles rolled up as you did, but cut them into strips. We just finished eating a few moments ago and I wanted to let you know how delicious it was.
    My d-i-l wants the recipe too so I directed her here.
    Thanks again for giving it a try and posting it...definitely a keeper!

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  11. Lovella,

    I made your sausage, potato, noodle dish also! It was a huge hit. Mine didn't look quite so picture perfect as yours, but it was eaten and eaten and eaten. Not much to put away here, either. I also made the cream sauce, which I loved, my children were hesitant to try that part of it! Thanks for this great blog. I also made the tomato soup cake today. -Jo Anna M.

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  12. Thanks a TON !!!! When my mum was just married, she was not "checked out" on all the family favourites from the Mennonite side (Dad)..
    Grandmas never measure: they instinctively KNOW how much ingrediant to put. Grandma was smart. She took Mum under her wing for a few sessions, and: instead of just thowing things by eye into the dish, she first tossed them on a sheet of paper !!! Then the paper was folded into a sort of funnerl, and into a set of measuring spoons. Voila....recipes captured. This dish will soon be part of MY rotation. It looks as good as it will taste. Re-Thanks.
    Kenna.

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  13. Made this tonight - big hit. A friend brought me some genuine smoked Mennonite sausage from Manitoba. Made the noodles with whole wheat flour - big mistake! I was the only one who even remotely liked them. Would love to give it a try again, could you add details about handling the dough (how long a rest between kneading and using etc)
    THANK- YOU

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  14. This looks yummy! I will have to try it!

    My mom makes a dish similar to this and has always called it "strudela". It has German origins and instead of letting the water steam away, it is placed in a beef stew-like broth and steamed/poached like a dumpling. (Before she rolled up the dough she spread butter.) My dad always requests it.... it has been quite a while since she has made it!

    I love your website. I was directed here by my wonderful sil. I will come back often!

    Renee - WA

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  15. every time I come to your site for the past year I drool over the picture of this and I finally took the time to search through all your recipes to figure out what it was called. I was surprised to find that it's fairly easy since I make my noodles this way already for soups (but unrolled after I cut them) so I'm excited to try this and leave them in the rolled up rosette. Thank you for sharing this recipe! It's quite the presentation on the plate. I can't wait to try it.

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  16. Oh my gosh! Thank you so much for this recipe. My grandmother used to make this only she steamed them (rolled and cut like you did) over chicken that had been fried first then put in a pot with a little water half way up the chicken. She called it "strudels". I have searched and searched for this recipe only to find the dessert strudels. My grandmother and father are long passed and I had nothing but the memory of this dish. Thank you so much! I am making this for supper today!

    Cindy Sikorski

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  17. My mom makes this all the time! But she puts the rolled up noodles (Strudel) in a beef stew with carrots and potatoes... YUM!

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  18. I'm a retired man who was blessed with Mennonite parents and grew up on the food you have in the Menn. section. The rich buttery sauces, the high starches, sausages, and all the "other" goodies. Then, of course, we would have the great German desserts.
    When I stumbled across this site and started reading, I began to cry. I thought the past was long behind me after losing my parents over 32 yrs ago but it came flooding back into my mind and soul. Btw, that's a good thing. A lot of my mom's recipes were lost with time but yours are right on the spot. You see, they too were Mennonites who fled Russia and all the bad political issues that threatened their well-being.
    Now I have my memories to ponder while I have a dish re-created from your files. For that I thank you from my heart.
    Ragbear

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  19. This is the closest thing I've found to my family's strudel dumplings! German-speaking from a German village in Romania. On their farm they didn't use egg and quite often the milk was replaced by water. We do use oil or drippings and we do roll and then cut them. Ham or cabbage rolls stewed with veggies. Dumplings fried the next day - treat. Thanks for posting!

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  20. we used to make this dish to and called it strudel but we cooked in the liquid from a ham bone. Fryed the next day was the best thing. Our family was also german. Now that I found the recipe I'm going to try it!

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  21. Kielke are a quick and easy pasta. My 2 adult British step kids clammer for them when we get together. Mennonite sausage is hard to come by where I live but I think I will spare some for this summer recipe.

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  22. My mother and grandmother made a very similar recipe, but she called it Kartoffel und Klaisse. It has the potatoes, onions, homemade noodles and chicken or beef with a sour cream sauce or mushroom soup over it. My mother often uses egg or other noodles as a shortcut, but all of us grandchildren love it!
    This website is awesome. My mother's family were in Russia and had to flee to Canada in the 1920's.

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  23. I made this tonight and left the noodles rolled up, and it was Wonderful!!! We really enjoyed it. Thank you sooo much for posting this recipe!!

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  24. Johnathan-Michael White IIApril 2, 2013 at 11:17 PM

    I made this.... Oh my gosh, it is so filling but oh so good. Thank you very much for posting this....

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  25. I made this tonight, and added a head of cabbage chopped up to the mix - so so delish!!

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  26. Made this last night, what a wonderful dish!! Family said it was a keeper! Thank you for sharing!!!

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  27. Are the Mennonites Germans from Russia? My Lutheran forebears lived in a village named Brienne in Bessarabia, and made something similar, generally cooked over fried potatoes. Used water, eggs, and flour as a rule, to make a soft dough. Cut the roll in two inch lengths, and then added it and a little water to potatoes fried in oil, enough to cover the potatoes. Then you covered it tightly, brought it to a boil, and didn't lift the lid for thirty minutes or they will be tough. You will hear frying when they are ready to go, let it go until they are browned.

    Bessarabia (Romanian: Basarabia; Russian: Бессарабия Bessarabiya, Ukrainian: Бессарабія Bessarabiya) is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. Nowadays the bulk of Bessarabia is part of Moldova, whereas the northernmost regions, as well as the southern regions bordering the Black Sea (Budjak), are part of the Ukraine.

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  28. this was a fav in our house for years

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  29. OK. I think this is what Bessarabian Germans call "strudel."

    The recipe I have calls for 1 pound flour; 1/2 tsp. salt; 1 egg, 1Tbs. oil, and 1 cup warm water. You make a soft dough, let it rest 30 minutes.

    Then you divide it and roll it as thin as possible; and then brush it heavily with cooking oil. (I use canola.)

    After that, using a pastry pillow, work it until it is about as thin as a Greek phyllo, like paper.

    You can either roll it up as described above, or layer each piece, one over the other, over the potatoes, sausage, etc. A common way is to just fry three or four sliced potatoes, add 2c water, Then you just put the strudel leaves over the top and simmer it for 30 minutes, until you hear it "frying" again. Don't lift the lid too early or the strudel will be tough.

    Another variant uses 2c warm water, 1 pkt yeast, 1 Tbsp. sugar, 1tsp. salt, and 5-6 cups bread flour. Make up a stiff dough, let rise, usually about an hour in a warm kitchen - you are looking for the bulk to double.

    You punch it down, break into three or four sections, roll until no more than 1/8 inch thick, coat with warm cooking oil. You take each segment and roll loosely from one end to the center; then you roll loosely from the other end to the center, and then cut between the two rolls. Or you can ignore tradition, and do as I do and make twice as many sections, longer but narrower, and roll from wide edge to the other.

    While all of this is going on, the rest of the recipe should already be cooking. When the potatoes are fried, then add enough water to cover the potatoes and sausage, cut the strudel into 2' - 3' lengths, and add to the pot. Cook as before.

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  30. I've made this several times now and it always comes out fantastic! So simple(and I'm a man) and using the bacon drippings takes it to a whole new level!!

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  31. We ate this all the time growing up!! My grandparents were German and Granny taught mom to make it. We spread the paper-thin dough with bacon fat (increases the flavor by lots!). Then it was boiled with sliced onions, large potato chunks, and pork hocks (with a bay leaf or two) for about an hour. We cut the strudels in 2-3 inch pieces before adding them to the pot. Cut in smaller (1 inch) pieces the next day (IF there's leftovers) and fried in more bacon fat was a real treat too!! Thank you for sharing this recipe - it's extremely hard to find on the Internet! !

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    1. Thank you for sharing that story of how you enjoyed this in your family. I'm reminded now that I haven't made this recipe in a while myself and my dear husband would be thrilled if I did.

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  32. I tried this recipe and it is really good. So close to what my Dad made (except for the sausage) which was a hit at our place. The only thing I did different is that I rolled the dough with my noodle machine on the 9 setting which is 'see through'. Thanks.

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  33. My Mom's recipe like this was also called strudela! She is no longer with us, so I have been searching the Internet for it. We too put butter on the paper thin dough and the layer it before cutting into straps. We boil ours in chicken meat and potato broth. Delicious! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Thank you for sharing your memory and how you make yours.

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  34. Wow, I cant believe I finally found this online! My aunt taught me how to make this many years ago. It is served with pot roast and with the juices of the roast spooned over it. Our family calls it strudel. They are Bessarabia Germans.

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