Handkerchief noodles with butter and blue cheese (peynirli hangel)

I originally ate this rich dish with aged blue cecil cheese. It is similar to Roquefort, but dry and chewy so it doesn’t melt into the noodles – a soft blue cheese nonetheless almost mirrors blue cecil in flavour.

Credit: Feast magazine

• serves

  6

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 415 g (2¾ cups) plain flour, sifted, plus extra, to dust
• 2 eggs
• 125 g unsalted butter, melted
• 150 g blue cheese

Resting time 30 minutes

Instructions

Combine flour and 1 tbsp salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add eggs. Using your fingers, break egg yolks and combine with egg whites, then mix into flour. Add water, 1 tbsp at a time, working mixture with your hands until dough is soft but not sticky; you will need up to 250 ml water. Knead dough for 5 minutes or until smooth, then cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes.

Divide dough into 8 pieces. Roll out each piece on a lightly floured work surface to a 40 cm x 24 cm rectangle. Cut into 4 cm squares, then dust lightly with flour and set aside.

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add noodles and cook for 5 minutes or until al dente. Drain and quickly transfer to a bowl. Pour over hot melted butter and toss to combine. Crumble over cheese to serve.

Photography by Chris Chen.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.