German Spaetzle

Spaetzle batter

The first time I remember having spaetzle (little German noodles)  was a year ago for Mother's Day brunch and I thought it was great.  Granted, it was probably drenched in butter, which makes all things delicious.

I'm not sure what revived my interest in spaetzle, but something sure did.  I found myself digging around on the internet to find a recipe I felt I could trust.  I went with the Smitten Kitchen recipe because Deb provides a weight measurement for the flour since I like to use a scale.  I don't trust my accuracy with flour in a measuring cup nor do I trust recipes to be using the same method I use to get the flour in the cup... scoop and sweep?  or dip dip dip?  I'd rather avoid all that uncertainty and pull out my food scale instead.

Inspiration

Smitten Kitchen spaetzle

Spaetzle boiling away

I made a half batch because I thought the original 7 eggs seemed like a lot to waste if this didn't turn out.

I saw that other sources mentioned nutmeg and herbs, so I added

Ingredients

• 1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs
• 2 T (30 ml) milk
• touch of nutmeg
• some dried parsley

Buttered spaetzle

Instructions

Prep a large pot of salted water to boil. 

Mix the ingredients together.

When the water is boiling, scoop a bit of the batter into the colander and press it through the holes with a rubber spatula into the lightly boiling water below.  They should float almost immediately, which indicates they're done.  I was a little paranoid so I let them cook for a little longer.  I ended up scooping them out with a slotted spoon, that worked better than the spaghetti grabber or my smallest mesh strainer. 

It took 3-4 batches to work through all the batter and it was helpful to have Husband Jeff there to help scoop the batter into the colander for each round.     

I served the noodles with only a little butter on the noodles, but a lot of people pan fry them.  I would love to try that sometime.

Verdict

Authentic spaetzle is quick and easy! 

These were really good but quite salty.  It ended up that when I salted the water I should have used a lighter hand, because the spaetzle soaked up a ton of salt. It was particularly noticeable with the leftovers, Husband Jeff declared them too salty to eat, but I picked at them and ate more. 

My favorite pieces were the ones that were bigger and thicker, they were chewier and more enjoyable to eat.  So if I want to make these again, I'll think about how to make them as large as I can.

Sonny D didn't eat them at all, but I bet if he realized they were noodles he would try them.  Noodles are always a favorite.