Spaetzle

 This week's assignment/challenge for SundayFunday is Pasta Dishes, hosted by Camilla Mann of CulinaryCam.    
I made Spaetzle.  And yes, that is Jaegerschnitzel alongside it. 

She said that since October is National Pasta Month, she wants us to share a favorite pasta recipe. It can be homemade pasta or the sauce you serve with pasta. Sunday Funday is a group of bloggers who blog every Sunday on a theme.

I kinda bowed out of posting a few years ago after my husband died, but I'm back and excited to keep trying new stuff. This week, we're posting about Pasta. `

I got a little excited. I love pasta —homemade, commercial, doesn't matter. I love it all.

Since I finally cracked the secret to really good Spaetzle, I thought I'd share it here. I've made spaetzle in the past, and the batter has been alternately runny or too thick. I've tried quite a few recipes. Honestly, some of them were pretty good, and others, well, at least I know how to clean up messes.

I'm going to let you in on the secret, at least the secret I found. It's all in how long you mix the batter. Yup, it's that simple. And since I'm single, I end up freezing the majority of the spaetzle for later meals. It's actually really good that way. I also broke another rule. I didn't rinse it in cold water after cooking. I just threw a big clump of butter onto the cooked spaetzle while it was in the colander, gave it a bit of a stir, to keep the noodles from sticking, and ate some while it was hot.

And then added more butter after I put it into a bowl. (It keeps the noodles from sticking to each other, and it just plain tastes good.)

I have to say I've actually been making some form of pasta for many years. I've made potsticker wrappers, aka Gyoza; Pierogi; regular Egg Noodles; I've even made ravioli; and my personal favorite, Melboller, which is a Danish Dumpling that goes in soup. So lots of different kinds of pasta.

I've never posted about how to make Spaetzle. Spaetzle is actually a basic egg noodle or dumpling, cooked fresh in boiling water. It's in irregular shapes, and the name, derived from the Germanic languages, means little sparrow. You can read more about it here. I actually bought a spaetzle maker, well, it's more like a disk which I can also use as a colander to strain pasta and other items. And it's not a single-use item.

I have several of those already, and do not need any more. And have to say it was easier to use than my old method.

I have a flat skimmer ladle with holes in it that I used to use when making spaetzle. It was good, but it's packed away somewhere. I tried making some spaetzle a couple of weeks ago, using a small Ziploc bag to squeeze out the batter into the boiling water. And it worked, but this spaetzle maker is a touch easier to use. Besides, the batter got all over my hands when I squeezed the bag too hard, and it was yucky and goopy.

As I said, this time round I broke a couple of rules, but not the most important one. Keep stirring the spaetzle dough until bubbles form. I think I could have actually mixed the batter a little longer, but I was hungry and couldn't wait. And I could have maybe added another couple of tablespoons of flour to the batter as well. It was a touch thinnish. Maybe next time.

 

 Here's the recipe:

Check out what my fellow bloggers posted about their pasta adventures; it's at the end of the recipe card. In other words, keep on scrolling.

 

 

Spaetzle

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking adapted from many recipes

Prep time: 10 MinInactive time: 20 MinTotal time: 30 Min

This easy peasy pasta is perfect with Schnitzel, or any pasta sauce you like. I've enjoyed it with bolognese sauce as well as plain with butter.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup AP flour + 1-2 tablespoons if needed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 quart boiling, salted water. (You can flavour the water with chicken or beef stock if you wish. I like to use chicken stock.)

Instructions

1. Crack the eggs into a bowl, add the flour, milk and salt and using a hand mixer, mix it together.
2. Continue to mix it for at least 10 minutes. You are basically encouraging the formation of gluten here. I've read you have to mix it until you can pick up some of the batter and holes appear. I just mix it for 10 minutes or a little less.
3. I like to let the batter rest at this point for a few minutes, up to half an hour. (Usually, while I'm preparing and frying the Schnitzel).
4. Using a spaetzle maker, spoon some of the batter onto the maker and, using the scraper, press the batter through the holes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl. You can add a little butter to the just-cooked spaetzle to keep it from clumping together at this point.
5. Add the buttered spaetzle to your plate to serve. Or pour your sauce of choice over it. The spaetzle lends itself very well to being frozen for a later date. You can also refrigerate the leftover spaetzle (if there is any) and reheat it in a pan with some butter for a little breakfast treat. I like the leftover spaetzle browned in a little butter alongside some eggs and bacon, or with chopped up bacon.

Estimate only

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