Makiełki is a sweet Polish Christmas noodle dish made with homemade pasta strips. Poppy seeds inevitably show up as a course on the Polish Christmas table in one way or another, since it’s believed the more poppy seeds you eat the more money you’ll have in the year to come. And what a delicious way of increasing your chances, too!
Try it and enjoy!
Makiełki (Polish Poppy Seed Noodles)
Chef’s Pencil Staff
A well-loved Christmas Eve dessert, poppy seed noodles are both popular and easy to make.
Pour the milk into a medium-sized pot and add the ground poppy seeds. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, allowing to gently simmer without a lid for 15 minutes.
While the poppy seeds are cooking, prepare the dried fruits. Crush or chop approximately 100 grams of walnuts into smaller pieces, along with the same quantity of blanched almonds and 100 grams of raisins.
After the initial 15 minutes of cooking the poppy seeds and milk, incorporate all the prepared dried fruits and nuts into the pot. Add 100 grams of honey and 50 grams of butter, stirring the mixture. Increase the heat to bring the contents to a boil, then reduce it to maintain a gentle simmer without the lid. Continue cooking the poppy seed mixture for an additional 15 minutes, still without the lid. By this point, the mixture should have thickened. Taste and decide whether to add more honey if needed.
Preparing the noodles:
Now it's time to prepare the noodles. To do this, prepare a pot full of water and add 1 teaspoon of salt and a splash of oil to it. Bring to a boil, and start preparing the noodles in the meantime.
Combine the flour, egg, and warm water in a bowl and knead the dough. You can also use a standing mixer with a hook attachment,
Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead thoroughly until smooth and pliable.
Roll out the dough thinly and cut the dough into long ribbons using a pizza cutter. Shorten them to your desired length.
Sprinkle some flour on the noodles to keep them from sticking to one another and when the water in the pot starts boiling, pick them up with a knife and place them in the water. Stir immediately to keep the noodles from sticking together.
At first, you'll notice the noodles will sink to the bottom. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook the noodles until they rise to the surface of the water.
Drain and set aside to cool.
Final Step:
Place the noodles in a large serving bowl and top with the poppy seed mixture, and mix everything together to evenly coat the noodles.
Place the bowl on the table for everyone to serve either hot or cold and enjoy!
Notes
Tip : If you don’t want to cook the noodles yourself, you can easily use store-bought pasta. The most popular is łazanki pasta.
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