Trusty Spaetzle Recipes?

[pmmahan]

Does anyone have a good, maybe tried and true spaetzle recipe? I would love to make some tonight - we have a spaetzle maker that's never been used.

TIA!

[AndreaU]

Sorry I don't have any spaetzle recipes of my own, but I did come across this website from a previous post on German food...

http://www.aaltonet.com/spaetzle/spaetzle.html

Let me know if you find a good one- I could really go for some hearty German fare. And what's a spaetzle maker? I've seen recipes where you squeeze the dough through a collander.

[pmmahan]

thanks for the site. A spaetzle maker looks like this:

http://www.kitchenetc.com/Products.cfm?sku=000784595

I think you press the dough through the little bowl thing and it goes through the holes, making the little pasta-like shapes.

[JHaris]

Sorry if this recipe is too late for you to use tonight, but I just came on.

I looked in so many places in Budapest for that spaetzle maker. Never could find one. Someone just brought me another style last month which looks terrific. A flat stainless steel "plate" with holes that fits over the pot of boiling water and you use a "scraper" to move the dough back and forth. If it doesn't work I will go to the site you showed and order the one shown. My old one disappeared...think one of my children must have borrowed it.

Anyway, following is the recipe that I have been using for many years and my MIL when she visited from Budapest said that it was better than hers. I use a food processor to mix the ingredients which have to be beaten until it looks shiny. My MIL used so much elbow grease and time in making it, but the food processor does it in a minute.

3 cups all purpose flour
3 eggs
3/4 teaspooon salt
approx. 1 cup water.

You may have to add a little more flour/or water to get the desired consistency.

Mix all ingredients and beat until smooth and shiny. It should be the consistency of thick sour cream. Drop into boiling, salted water using the spaetzle maker. By moving the container back and forth over the holes you are cutting the dough as it drips down into the water. Skim off the spaetzle as they rise to the top. I add a little butter to keep them from sticking to each other.

Be sure to separate the machine parts and soak in water. Otherwise the left on dough dries quickly and makes for a harder clean-up

this makes enough for 4...depending on how you like them. The above recipe is doubled because my children can never get enough.

[badunnin]

Odd. I was having dinner this evening with a English man who lives in Wales that travels to Germany for about a week a month, and we were discussing German cuisine. Spaetzle comes from the area of Germany that I lived in (same area that he travels to) and I used to eat it all the time because it was so cheap and easy! It's replaces mashed potatoes in my house as a good sidedish with pot roast.

[JHaris]

Just as an additional note to the word spaetzle. In Hungary it is known as Nokedli. You see it all the time in restaurants as a side dish in place of mashed potatoes, etc. As you can see the ingredients are few and simple. A delicious dish that costs pennies. You could use in in place of any pasta. I guess if you are really inventive, now that I think of it, you could add different seasonings or herbs to add to the basic taste.

[pmmahan]

It seems that most spaetzle recipes are pretty close to the same, from the research I did on the internet. It came out great, delicious comfort food that reminded me of being in Germany. I served it with the Sun Dried Tomato Meatloaf from 3/03, which was also delicious.

[clotilde]

I wanted to post a review for the spaetzle recipe JHaris posted above! I made a batch last night, and was very happy with the outcome, they were juste like the real thing!
I two-thirded the recipe, and used milk and water in equal parts as the liquid. I ended up using a little less liquid than indicated because I don't have a spaetzle maker, so my dough needed to be somewhat firmer. I roughly spread the blob of dough on a cutting board, and using a large spoon, I scraped bits of dough into boiling water, as indicated. My spaetzle hence came out in mini-blob shapes - very rustic, but that's what fresh spaetzle look like in the east of France (Alsace) where they are a local specialty. When they floated to the top, I would scoop them out and put them in a bowl of lukewarm water (did not want to add butter to them). The process did take a little while, but I guess I'll be faster next time now I've got the hang of it.
When they were all ready, I drained them (weighed them and had 600g) and sauteed them in a skillet with caramelized shallots, adding chopped ham. I served this with a green salad.
It was delicious and I'm looking forward to the leftovers! Thanks JHaris for sharing your recipe!
Clotilde.

[Peggy C.]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but couldn't you use a food mill or a grater to drop the spaetzle in a little faster than how clotilde did it? Just thinking of saving you some time. Although I sometimes find tasks like that very therapeutic.

[Beth]

I bought a spaetzle maker at a discount store for about $3 -- kind of a have to try it at that point. I'm not sure I'd ever eaten them then, and I know I've only had them once in my life --and only a small spoonful at a school pot luck. Since I didn't have a recipe and didn't really know what I was after, the spaetzle maker went into the cabinet for another day -- and was promptly forgotten. Now that I have a recipe and a review, guess we'll have to try it.

BTW, the thing I got is pretty much like a coarse, flat grater with something to hold the dough as you move across it. I can't see why using a coarse grater wouldn't work, but you might have to go slower since you might have only part of the surface with that grate and there would be no sides to keep the dough/batter from dropping over the sides.

[JHaris]

The usual "gadget" through which the spaetzle dough drops into the water have much larger holes than a grater or food mill. I think trying to do it this way would take a tremendous amount of time. I know my MIL in Budapest did cut it off the board as Clotilde did, but it was cumbersome. Thanks Clotilde for sharing how you served it. I didn't know this was a dish in France. I am going to try the combo you used. Sounds really good. I serve it most of the time with Chicken Paprikash.

It really is such a great side dish.

[clotilde]

I agree with the food mill/grater replies : I've rummaged through my drawers before I started, looking for a tool that would save me some time, but my grater's holes are too small, and I'm not sure how I could have pushed the soft dough through them without the special racks... But thanks Peggy for trying to save me some time! :) Anyway I figure, if using a spoon is good enough for mother-in-laws in Budapest, it's good enough for me! :) And I quite liked the hand-made look it gave them.
"Alsace" is a region in the north east of France right next to the German border, and the local culture (food specialties, architecture, traditions...) is pretty close to the German one. Alsace and the neighbor region Lorraine actually belonged to Germany between 1870 (when we lost the war) and 1918 (when we won the next one!).

[ReneeV]

I have an actual spaetzle "maker". It's metal cheese-grater-looking plate, with larger holes, a handle on one side and a hook on the other. Along both long sides of the plate is a lip. A metal funnel-like piece slides under the lips and is free to move back and forth over the the plate with the holes.

You place the plate with the holes over a pot of boiling water or stock or stew by hooking one side over the edge of the pot and holding the handle on the other side. You slide the funnel over the plate and fill it with your spaetzle batter. You just move the funnel back and forth and perfectly sized spaetzle drop in the boiling liquid.Very simple, but quite ingenious! I make spaetzle frequently, cause my family really likes it and it is a quick side dish. I make mine with whole eggs and egg whites. But other than that, it's the same basic recipe.

These used to be readily available in hardware stores in our town. (Why there, I don't know:confused: )
I'm from the greater Cleveland area originally, and we have quite a lot of Eastern European Americans, so perhaps that why spaetzle makers weren't an unusual item. I've had mine for years and I don't live there anymore, so I don't know if they still sell them at the local hardware store.

Renée

[lovemybeetle]

Would it be possible to use a potato ricer to make the spaetzle, by squeezing the ricer and scraping the bottom of it periodically? Are the holes too small?

Any ideas from experienced spaetzle makers?:confused: :D

[Tizzylish]

My DH makes his the traditional way his father taught him. With a thicker batter, he tips the bowl over a pot of boiling water and in a quick slicing motion slices them into the pot. They are a little thicker than the ones that come out of a spaetzle maker, but our German friends and my German stepmother tell us, that's the way they are in the area of Germany they come from.

His recipe: {sometimes he has to add a little more flour to get it a little thicker}


* Exported from MasterCook *

GERMAN SPAETZLE

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk

Stir together the flour and salt. Combine eggs and milk; stir into
the flour mixture. The batter must be thick and gooey. Pour or
spoon the batter into a spaetzle maker and place it on the lip of,
or hold it over, a large saucepan or pot of boiling, salted water.
Press or crank (depending on the design of your spaetzle maker)
the dough into the boiling water. Note: If you don't have a Spaetzle
maker, this can also be done with a colander and a large flat spoon.

Take care to let the extruded pieces of dough (the spaetzle) fall
on the slightly bubbling water surface and let them cook for
approximately 10 - 20 seconds according to their thickness. Spaetzle
swimming on the surface are sufficiently cooked and should be
gathered with a large slotted spoon, drained and placed into a
serving dish. Stir in some melted butter or margarine to keep the
Spaetzle from sticking together and garnish with some bread crumbs.
Makes about 4 cups of Spaetzle, which is sufficient as a side dish
for 2-3 people.

Serve with nearly any meat dish as a nutritious replacement for
potatoes or pasta. Spaetzle is great with gravy, sauces or just
plain. Also excellent fried the next day in a little butter with onions.

[JHaris]

Originally posted by lovemybeetle
Would it be possible to use a potato ricer to make the spaetzle, by squeezing the ricer and scraping the bottom of it periodically? Are the holes too small?

Any ideas from experienced spaetzle makers?:confused: :D
The potato ricer's holes are too small for the dough to get through. You would have a tough time trying to squeeze the dough out. The spaetzle maker that is pictured on the web site that pmmahan posted before is what an authentic spaetzle gadget looks like. This is the one I used for years.

[Kayaksoup]

Resurrecting an old thread because I was wondering if there were some more good spaetzle recipes out there.... We bought a ricer with spaetzle making holes, so I tried one recipe out and really enjoyed it. I would love to have more ideas on how to serve it though.

Here is the recipe I tried.



Herbed Spaetzle
Recipe courtesy Gourmet Magazine


Recipe Summary
Prep Time: 17 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 cups packed fresh parsley leaves (preferably flat-leafed), washed and spun dry
3/4 cup milk
3 large eggs
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

In a 6-quart kettle, bring 5 quarts salted water to a boil.
In a large bowl whisk together flour and salt.

In a heavy saucepan, bring milk just to a simmer. Put the parsley in a blender. With the blender motor running, add the milk to the parsley, and blend until milk is very green.

In a bowl, whisk together eggs and water and add parsley milk in a slow stream, whisking constantly.

Add milk mixture to flour mixture, whisking until mixture forms a soft, smooth batter-like dough.

Force the dough through a spaetzle-maker into the boiling water, or drizzle through a large-holed colander.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Stir the spaetzle gently, to separate, and boil for 5 minutes, or until just tender.

In a large colander drain the spaetzle and rinse well under cold water. Drain the cooled spaetzle well and transfer to a large baking dish.

In a small heavy saucepan, cook the rosemary with salt and pepper, to taste, in butter over moderate heat, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Drizzle the rosemary butter over the spaetzle, tossing well.

Season the spaetzle with salt and pepper. Spaetzle may be prepared up to this point 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.

Bake the spaetzle, covered with foil, in oven 20 minutes, or until heated through.



Episode#: CL9211

Copyright © 2003 Television Food Network, G.P., All Rights Reserved

[hAndyman]

and thanks for the recipe.
I had spaetzle for the first time last year when we had a Swiss-German-speaking Swiss girl living with us. She gave me a spaetzle maker for Xmas and taught me how to make it the Swiss way. Her favourite way (and mine, so far) was to make the spaetzle and remove it from the pot to a large hot bowl (kept warm and covered in the oven), then continue cooking the noodles and removing to the bowl until done. Cover the noodles with lots of caramelized onions in butter and sprinkle liberally with grated Sbrinz cheese and serve. Delicious! For decadence, put a layer of caramelized onions and cheese in the middle of the noodles. Good Parmesan is an acceptable substitute for the Swiss Sbrinz cheese.
BTW, she said they traditionally use a "spaetzle press" for making the noodles - it has a slight "comma" shape to the holes. Here's a link to 3 designs for spaetzle makers, including the press: http://store.german-usa.com/Houseware/Spaetzle_Makers/

Cheers! Andy

[hAndyman]

It's my turn to resurrect this old spaetzle thread with a very tasty spaetzle we had tonight which I served with Hungarian Paprikash rather than the veal dish in the recipe.

For spaetzle lovers:

http://fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/recipe.cgi?r=244568

Veal Chop with Puree of Apple Spatzle

Serves 4

2 med Green apples
1/2 cup White wine
Juice of one lemon
1 tbl Minced shallots
1 tsp Minced garlic
2 Eggs lightly beaten
1 1/2 cup Flour
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Baking powder
4 Veal chops - (10 oz ea)
2 tbl Olive oil
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
2 cup Chopped mild herbs
1 cup Veal reduction hot
1 cup Julienned grilled apples
1 tbl Unsalted butter
1 tbl Chopped parsley
Salt to taste
Freshly-ground black pepper to taste
2 tbl Chopped chives see * Note

Preheat the oven 400 degrees. For the spatzle: Cook the apples, wine, lemon juice, shallots and garlic, down until the apples are soft. Remove from the heat and puree until smooth. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, reduce the heat, and maintain a simmer. In a bowl, stir the apple puree, eggs, flour, 1 teaspoon salt and baking powder together. Place a colander over the pan, and press through the holes into the hot water using a rubber spatula. When the spatzle floats to the surface, cover and cook the spatzle until it swells and is fluffy. Remove from water and shock in ice water. Drain the spatzle and set aside. For the veal chops: In a saute pan, heat the olive oil. When the pan is smoking hot, sear each chop for 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Season each chop with Emeril's Essence. Remove from the pan and allow to cool. Cover each chop with the mustard and crust with the chopped herbs. Place the chops in the oven and cook for about 15 minutes or until medium-rare. In a sauce pan, heat the veal reduction and grilled apples together. Bring up to a simmer and season. In a saute pan, melt the butter. Add the spatzle and saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the parsley and season. Spoon the sauce over the platter. Mound the spatzle in the center of the sauce. Place the chops on top of the spatzle with their bones crossing. Garnish with chives and Essence. This recipe yields 4 servings.

Andy's notes: Spaetzle: after cooking the apples, add only half the apple purée to the beaten eggs, then add the salt , flour and baking powder. If necessary add more apple purée, working it in, until the correct dough consistency is reached.

Any other new spaetzle recipes from the past year out there?