Tuesday's Special: Schinkenfleckerl (Baked Ham and Noodle Casserole)
>> Tuesday, May 10, 2011 –
recipe,
Tuesday's special
Schinkenfleckerl
Anyway...moving on....this dish is a noodle & ham casserole.
This is what I think of when someone says Comfort Food. It's the Ultimate Comfort Food to me. My mom frequently made this and now I make it for my girls. They love it just as much as I do! It's really hard not to like it. Seriously. What's not to like about noodles, eggs and ham all baked together? I think this is a typical humble Austrian dish.
Schinkenfleckerl
Ingredients
2-3 cups cooked elbow noodles
1 cup diced ham (I use a package of the cubed ham)
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
3 eggs; divided
1 small container sour cream
Bread Crumb Topping (optional; not in original recipe my Mom gave me):
1 cup panko bread crumbs (regular bread crumbs work too!)
2-3 Tb butter
Directions
Heat oven to 375F.
Grease 2-quart baking dish (I use a Pyrex baking dish and I use spray cooking oil to grease it).
Beat egg whites until stiff.
In a large bowl cream butter and egg yolks together using an electric hand mixer. (it'll look curdled and that's okay)
Add ham, noodles, sour cream to the creamed butter and yolk mixture. Use a rubber spatula to stir the mixture. Fold the egg whites into the mixture. (by gently folding in the egg whites the end product will be light and almost fluffy whereas if you stirred the egg whites into the mixture you'd lose the airy texture)
Pour into greased baking dish.
***
To make the bread crumb topping (which is totally optional but everyone in my family think it's a nice addition):
Melt the butter in a saute pan on medium heat.
Add the bread crumbs and stir to coat all the bread crumbs with butter.
Spread the bread crumbs over the top of the ham and noodles mixture.
***
Bake for about 30 minutes until the top is browned and the egg mixture is set. (mine took 40 minutes)
Serve with salad. mmmmmm......
Posted at $5 Dinner Challenge and Balancing Beauty & Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday.
That title is quite a mouthful, but it looks really good...and I bet my Dad (whose Dad came over here from Germany) would love it! Thanks for the recipe. I have to ask, what is panko bread?
Panko bread crumbs are Japanese-style bread crumbs. I know you can buy them at HyVee and maybe even Aldi. (they're a little bit different than regular bread crumbs- slightly different appearance and texture....don't know how to describe them).
This dish went over VERY WELL with the picky eater in our family! Sometimes it's just nice to make something you know everyone will eat. :-)