Spatzle

Originally published on February 8, 2014

Let’s take a minute to talk about spatzle. If you’ve had it before, and maybe even if you haven’t, you know it’s a German egg noodle that’s got sort of a funky shape on your plate. Sometimes it’s long and straight, other times it’s smaller and full of curves and twists. This smaller version is the one that I first tried when I had my first bite of spatzle so long ago, and that was the one I fell in love with. I warn you though. This is not an easy recipe. To make the dough, a stand mixer is ideal. If you’re like me and don’t have one though, don’t think you can whip this one up with a wooden spoon. I tried, and it’s next to impossible. I ended up throwing the batch into my food processor and letting that do most of the hard mixing for me. That worked and I thought that I was on a bit of a spatzle-roll, and then I tried to actually boil it. Without a spatzle-maker. Ugh.

Spatzle-makers look very similar to a ricer, but the holes on the spatzle-maker are quite bigger. If you don’t have a spatzle-maker, it can still be done (see picture above,) but it is much more difficult. You can use a number of things including a colander with large holes (which is what I chose,) or a steamer that can fit over a large pot. The idea is that you want to push the dough through holes of some kind, so that they form noodle-like shapes when boiled. If you’re not using a spatzle-maker,you’ll need to push the dough through your device with a wooden spoon. It’s not impossible, and it is worth it, especially if you serve delicious pork schnitzel to go with it.

Ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour 
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated 
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cup milk 
1 large onion, finely diced
1 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt 
Pepper 

Directions:

1.) Place the flour, salt and nutmeg into a food processor and pulse just to combine. In a separate bowl beat the eggs lightly, and then add milk. Pour this combination straight into the food processor and blend for about 15 minutes. Yes, that seems like a long time, but trust me on this one.

2.) When dough has formed, empty it out onto a very lightly floured surface. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. When boiling rapidly, place your colander or spatzle-maker over the surface, and begin to drop bits of the dough into the water. Continue all dough is cooking in the water.

3.) The noodles need to cook for about three minutes, or until they begin to float to the surface. Use a slotted spoon to remove the cooked noodles from the water and place in a large bowl off to the side.

4.) When all noodles have been cooked, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, add the onion and cook for about two minutes, just until soft and translucent.

5.) Add spatzle to the skillet, turn to coat with oil, and then cook, for about 5 minutes, until spatzle has begun to brown and crisp slightly on the surface. Season with salt and pepper.

6.) When finished cooking, move to a bowl, stir in parsley.

7.) Serve and enjoy!