German Night – Spaetzle

This recipe is one that I have dreamt about doing for years! I have had Spaetzle in Switzerland, Germany, Austria and France, and it has NEVER disappointed me. I will admit, I was a bit intimidated to try making my own Spaetzle, but with an assist from my husband, John, it turned out pretty amazing!!

Spaetzle is actually a pretty simple side dish. It is a dough that is torn into small pieces, boiled in salted water and then either served directly, or dried and then sauteed in a hot pan with butter to borwn the outside and make it even more delicious!

Tools required

• Large pot to boil water. The spaetzle pieces will rise to the top of the pan when cooked, so you want a pan that has some diameter and room

• A spaetzle maker, such as this one. Most commonly, you can use a stainless steel hand grater to push the dough through into the boiling water, if you do not have a spaetzle maker (I am not sure who does have one!). A hand grater is something used in most kitchens and is what I use. A good example would be this hand held grater.

Note/Tip: The key to using the hand held grater is to press the dough through the flat side of the grater, scraping the dough pieces as they come through the back, into the boiling salted water. Honestly, this is really a 2 person job. I would not have been able to do it without my husband, John. One person can scrape the dough through the grater, and the other to use a knife on the backside to release the dough, as well as use a strainer or spider to pull the cooked noodles out of the water as they are ready.

• A hand held spider or mesh strainer

Ingredients

2.25 cups of all purpose flour

1.5 tsp. fine sea salt

4 eggs

6 Tbsp. reduced fat milk (not skim)

Instruction

Set a very large dutch oven or other large vessel on the stove on high with 4 quarts of water and 2-3 tbsp of kosher salt

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl or into your mixer. Mix until fully combined. If the batter is too wet to pick up with your hands, add more flour until it is a workable dough that you are able to hold and manage. Do not overwork!!

Once dough is ready, cut into quarters and push through the backside/flat side of your grater, directly into the boiling water, one quarter at a time, removing the cooked spaetzle as it rises to the top of the water with your spider/strainer

Serving

Serve spaetzle hot, directly after draining, or, allow to cool a few minutes and sautee in butter in a pan, to allow for some delicious, amazing browning on the outside!

I served this spaetzle with my recipe for Pork Schnitzle, but I could see this being served with pork chops, pork loin, steak tips, for a breakfast with something sweet! There are so many options!! Make double the recipe and store some in the freezer safely for a few months to add a little European flair to your future recipes.

If this recipe interests you, give my cherry, bourbon pork chops a try!