Hilopites (Egg Noodles) with Leftover Lamb

The saga of leftover lamb continues. Admittedly, I am not a leftover type of girl. I don't plan meals around leftovers, but when faced with large quantities of really good lamb, I can't bring myself to throw it out.

Hilopites are artisan egg based pasta noodles, usually cut into square, that are so simple but so good. A few months back I had a strange craving for hilopites and posted so on facebook. My friend Ritsa, or more specifically her mom, came to the rescue as she recently brought a homemade stash of longer noodles back from Greece. I made those in a simple manner and topped with myzethra. Now friends unfamiliar with hilopites indicated, go ahead and make some at home. While they have a point, part of the food experience is nostalgia and hilopites made in my kitchen in Michigan could never and likely will never compare to those made in a small village from fresh eggs from chickens that are part of the family. These noodles bring me back to my childhood and no commercially made product could do so.

Topped with braised lamb from the pressure cooker, I hit two birds with one stone- fulfilled my need for hilopites and used up some lamb.

Hilopites with Braised Lamb

Serves 2

1 cup roasted lamb slices

1 cooked lamb bone

1 small onion minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 cup red wine

3 cups of water

1 teaspoon better than bouillon (optional)

2 bay leafs
pinch of cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

salt and pepper

grated kafalotyri or romano cheese

In a large pressure cooker with the lid off, heat olive oil and add minced onion. Cook for a few minutes. Add tomato paste, cinnamon, bay leaf and nutmeg. Cook for an additional minute. Deglaze with wine. Pour water and dissolve the better then bouillon. Add lamb bone and lamb pieces. Cover with lid, bring to pressure and cook for 20 minutes. Release pressure and carefully strain and place lamb pieces and bone to the side. Bring strained liquid to a boil, check the seasoning, if needed, add some salt and pepper and add hilopites. Cook for an additional 10 minutes until noodles have absorbed most of the liquid. Plate and top with lamb pieces and top with salty cheese such as kafelotyri or romano.