2014 Epcot Food & Wine Festival Germany Schinkennudeln Home recipe...

Ok so a few weeks ago the hubby and I made our annual voyage to Disney to hit this years MNNSHP and the food and wine festival. So last year they had a dish similar if not the same as this but lines were just insane so we didnt get to try it. This year Germany was on our must do list. (Actually we managed to eat at 12 countries in all...for my full review look HERE)

Ok so Schinkennudeln basically translates to ham noodles. But I love simple comfort foods. If you are looking to be wowed by a culinary masterpiece you may want to try something else. However if you are looking for a slightly better flavor profile on a classic dish this may just be the recipe for you.

So the description of the dish in Germany is as follows...

 Schinkennudeln -Pasta gratin with ham and cheese

This is what it looked like...

 

 

What they forgot to say as it was chock full of onions as well!! Now I honestly don't prefer onions so when I decided to replicate this dish I just left those out.  I also added a few slight tweaks just based on mine and the hubby's tastes.

So this is the recipe for my take on Schinkennudeln:

Recipes fills a 9 by 13 inch baking dish.

Ingredients:

4 oz Swiss cheese
4 oz white cheddar cheese

1 oz finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese (This is just added cause hubby and I like it LOL)

2 cups heavy cream
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch Black Pepper
Pinch nutmeg
1 16oz bag egg noodles

1 lb ham, diced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.

In a pot start your water to boil the noodles.

Spray the pan you are using with a non stick spray.

Grate both the swiss and white cheddar into a medium bowl. (If you can find them shredded already even better but I could not.

Add Sharp cheddar to the bowl with the other cheeses and mix thoroughly.

Reserve 1 cup of the cheese blend.

Add the diced ham to the bowl with your cheese blend and mix.

In a large bowl combine the cream, eggs, & seasonings. Whisk well to combine.

Add the Ham and cheese to your cream mixture.

Add your noodles to your boiling water. I cooked my noodles about 2 minutes less than the time on the package as I did not want them falling apart after the baking process.

Drain noodles well and add to the cream mixture.

Immediately pour into your baking dish and cover with foil.

Bake for around 30 minutes.

Remove foil and add the rest of the cheese to the top.

Bake an additional 10 minutes until cheese is melted.

Allow dish to stand for a few minutes to set before cutting.

 

So this is what my dish looked like...

 

Taste wise I was super happy with the dish. Of course  with the edition of the sharp cheddar it is not as white as it was in the park. Also my "crust" on top was not quite as dark. I think this is due to pan size. I used my largest baking dish (I think it is 16 by 9) so I think switching to a smaller dish will help with that. If you are looking for a version closer to what was served in the parks just omit the sharp cheddar and add in maybe a half a cup of lightly sauteed onion (Only saute until soft not browned.) I used Egg noodles since they were similar to what we had in the park but I think most noodles would work. Maybe net time I will try some cavatappi!

 

Hopefully you enjoy this dish as much as I did! Let me know in the comments if you try it and how it worked out!