Skip to main content
Main

German Noodles

A baked noodle dish with tomato sauce, onions, and cheese.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Celery and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,810 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

German Noodles

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the noodles

  1. In a bowl, combine flour, eggs, and enough water to form a stiff dough.

  2. Knead the dough on a board for 15-20 minutes until smooth.

  3. Divide the dough into three parts and roll into thin sheets.

  4. Let the sheets dry slightly, then cut into narrow strips.

  5. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add salt, and drop in the noodle strips.

  6. Cook for 20 minutes, then drain.

Make the dressing

  1. In a pan, brown the butter and onions.

  2. Add tomatoes, red pepper, celery, parsley, thyme, and bits of beef or chicken.

Bake and serve

  1. In a baking dish, layer the dressing, noodles, and grated cheese until full.

  2. Finish with gravy and cheese on top.

  3. Bake at 400°F (200°C) until nicely browned.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,810 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Tomato + celerytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

All-purpose flour
Forms the main structure of the dough once combined with water and eggs.
Eggs
Bind the dough and add richness and firmness to the noodles.
Butter
Adds fat and flavor to the onion base and helps the dressing brown.
Onions
Provide sweetness and aroma when browned in butter.
Tomatoes
Add moisture and acidity to the dressing.
Grated italian cheese
Melts and browns on top, adding savory flavor and a golden crust.

The step that matters

Knead the dough until smooth. Kneading develops gluten, which gives the noodles their elasticity so they hold together when rolled, cut, and boiled rather than tearing or turning mushy.

Swap the parsley

The recipe marks parsley as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, egg, butter, onion, tomato, pepper, celery):

  1. Parsleythe original
  2. Thymefits about as well
  3. Tarragonfits about as well
  4. Turmericfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, egg, butter, onion, tomato, pepper, celery. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Tomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesRoast BeefRoast Beef211 recipesBeef LoafBeef Loaf175 recipesCream of Celery SoupCream of Celery Soup113 recipes