I made the mistake of asking my husband what Pork Shoulder-Butt was. Ha! That is some tricky doing as far as I'm concerned. Having a shoulder on your butt! Wow! Smart-allic that he is, the next day I came home from work he says, "I got that pork shoulder-butt you wanted." Umm... I didn't want any. I was reading recipes on line! So, Here I was stuck with a piece of meat I wasn't sure what to do with. I convinced him that it was his turn to cook so I could beg off and he tossed it in the crock pot the following day. Of course we couldn't eat it all... he bought a huge piece! After we worked on it a day or two I decided I had to spice it up some. (It just didn't have a lot of taste in my book.)
I decided it was noodle-roll time. You can stuff them with absolutely anything and I mean ANYTHING! I usually start with a trinity. What is a trinity?! lol... it is a mirepoix. What is a mirepoix you ask... it is 2 parts onion, 1 part celery and 1 part carrot or bell pepper depending on the part of the South you are from. I make both interchangeably... Since I was using pork and because I had some handy I used carrot (already cooked) with this.
Toss all three into your iron skillet with 2 TBS of real butter and saute. When the onion are translucent add 2-cups of any shredded meat and 1 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese. Season the combination with 1 TBS of Italian seasoning (or what ever you think might go with the meat you are using) a shake or two of red pepper flakes, and some salt and pepper to taste, turn the mixture off and set it aside. I'm a great proponent of tasting as you go. Add a little seasoning, taste and see if you need more. Better to not have enough than to have to much! Set your pan aside its time to work on your noodles.
For this recipe I made a 1/4 recipe (basic noodle recipe here) that would be 1 cup flour and 2 eggs a 1/2 teaspoon salt. I follow the same procedure by mixing and letting it rest covered for 15 - 30 minutes and then rolling it out as needed. I try to roll as thin as I can get it since I am going to roll my noodle up in the end. Each quarter of your noodle ball should make 2 or 3 rolls.
Your meat-filler should be plenty cool by now. Using CLEAN hands take a handful of the mixture and shape into a football, placing it in the middle to lower-third of your piece of dough. and roll it up. The last 1 1/2 to two inches wet with water (I keep a cup of water handy) on the incoming and reviving parts of the roll so that they stick to each other. Using your fingers reach inside the end of the roll and tamp down the mixture so that you can fold it over. Using water to glue it together, I push in a side, dab with water, push in another side, dab with water and work my way around. Usually I fold 3 or 4 times before I finished with that end... then I turn it over and repeat the process on the other end. Line them up on the counter and turn them occasionally. I like mine to be a little dry to start with. However, it doesn't really matter in the end they taste the same.
In a pot of salted boiling water drop ALL of your rolls. Boil them until they pop up to the top. Add another couple of minutes - they will come to the top and puff up slightly. Take them out and let them drain. While they are draining, in your largest iron skillet add an inch to and inch and a half of oil and heat it until a small piece of dough bubbles when you drop it in.
Working in small batches fry your boiled rolls until crispy on each side. Remove and place on a cooling rack to drain as oil as possible before you serve them.
These freeze well. I place them on a cookie sheet and put them uncovered into the deep freeze for about 1 hours. I then place them in a freezer baggie, label and date them. They should keep for about a month in the freezer. After thawing them, reheat in the toaster oven. Microwaving makes them a little to soft for my taste.
Recap: (for the list-ers in the group
- 1/4 recipe of Basic Noodle Recipe
- 1 soup sized pan of boiling salted water
- 1 large fry skillet with an inch to an inch and a half of canola oil
- Trinity (2 cups onion, 1 cup celery, 1 cup carrot or bell pepper)
- 2 TBS real butter
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 TBS Italian Seasoning
- Red Pepper flakes, to taste
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- a cup of warm water, to glue noodle roll together
The picture here is of Oven Roasted Squash and Meat-Filled Noodle Rolls. Yum!
Enjoy!
Kerri Downey
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