Crispy Spaetzle with Butter and Parsley

April 15, 2011  •  Pasta & Pizza, Side Dishes

There is an inherent problem with blogging about food. As a blogger, I’m drawn to other food blogs, and find myself salivating over creations I read about. And then it happens. I feel compelled to try something I’ve read about, and try to make it mine. So it was when I read the post about making spaetzle on Smitten Kitchen last week, that I knew it would be the perfect side dish to the beer braised ribs I was going to make (coming up next!).Deb had lamented that she didn’t have a spaetzle maker, and that it took her several tries to get the hang of pushing the wet dough out through a colander. I happen to spot this spaetzle maker for only $6 at Bed Bath and Beyond, so figured I could test if it’s really easier with the right tool. Emphatically – no, it isn’t!Consequently I have no step by step photos of me struggling to push the dough through the holes, sticky dough landing everywhere. What I will say is that you need to work in small batches, it does get hot over the simmering stock, and that perhaps if my batter had been a bit wetter it would have pushed through more easily. Once in the water, you only need to simmer the dumplings (they are considered a dumpling, not a noodle and are a German or Austrian specialty) for a minute or so, then drain them and shock them in an ice bath so they don’t continue to cook.I was pretty proud of myself for sticking with the process for several batches to make enough for dinner. I drained them well……while I heated up olive oil and butter together in a skillet.I added the spaetzle and cooked them until they took on some nice golden brown crispy edges.I tossed the whole pan with some chopped fresh parsley – and promptly began eating right out of the pan because the spaetzle was so yummy. My short ribs took longer than expected to cook that night, so I ended up refrigerating the spaetzle to have with the ribs the next night, and reheating the dumplings with a bit of butter the next night. I must say it was much better right out of the pan when they first cooked, all hot and crispy, so try to eat them when you make them. I did freeze the rest of the spaetzle (before toasting it in the butter) and will let you know how that holds up when I use it!

Crispy Spaetzle with Butter and Parsley
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Recipe type: Side Dish
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ cup water or milk (I used water)
  • 6 cups chicken stock
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
  1. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt.
  2. Beat eggs lightly and mix with water.
  3. Pour into flour and stir with a fork just to combine wet and dry ingredients.
  4. Bring stock to a low simmer over medium heat and press spaetzle dough through a large hold colander or spaetzle maker into the liquid to cook, working in batches.
  5. Remove cooked spaetzle after about a minute and plunge into an ice bath.
  6. When all spaetzle is cooked, drain well while you heat the butter and oil in a large skillet.
  7. Add spaetzle and cook over medium high heat until it's nicely browned on the edges and slightly crispy.
  8. Toss with parsley and serve immediately.
Notes
<em>Adapted from The Joy of Cooking, 75th Anniversary Edition, page 336</em>

 

Comments

5 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. My Kitchen in the Rockies says:

    Hi Michele, That is exactly how I make spaetzle. My family LOVES them. We just had Cheese Spaetzle the other day. I bake them in the oven with layers of browned onions and gruyere. Your dish is perfect made with leftover spaetzle from the previous day. Thanks.
    Kirsten

  2. Barbara | VinoLuciStyle says:

    I so know the feeling. Already this morning I want to make mocha sugar cookies, smoked bacon and now spaetzel. My grandmother used to make this for us and am now wondering what her process was.

    Looks fabulous!

  3. Susan Schneckner says:

    I grew up with my family making spaetzle. We never had a spaetzle maker — we poured the batter out off the side of a bowl and ‘sliced’ it into boiling water. Pretty easy to do!

  4. Chris's Gourmet Fashion says:

    I love spaetzle, especially the ones with spinach. If that was the first time you tried making them … you are amazing!

  5. Jamie A says:

    I found that using the Spaetzle maker did make it way easier for me but my first go around I realized I was either using it wrong or just that the second way I tried doing it made it simpler. I tried this using a different recipe so dough consistency could also change it a bit but when I put my dough (which was very sticky) in to the Spaetzle maker I tried pushing it through the first time. That didn’t go well at all and was not any easier than using a colander. Towards the end though I noticed something so on my second attempt I tried not pushing the dough through at all. Instead I place a big blob of dough into the chute on the Spaetzle maker (ideally enough to fill it) and then i simply drag the chute back and forth without pushing the dough down and making sure that I get to the end of the maker each time (sometimes going a bit over on the site where it could slide out). The way the chute is designed it seems to naturally push the dough through the holes on its own as you go back and forth. Just make sure that you don’t go too fast or press too hard so that the you don’t end up scrapping any of the rubber pieces and getting rubbery bits in your food.

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