Tuesday, May 25

Comfort Food

Spatzle

The first time I had spatzle was in Fussen, Germany. Right away I could tell it was the stuff comfort is made of. The kind of food that sticks to your ribs and warms your belly. The perfect food for those cold fall and winter evenings. But here I am writing about it at the end of May. Whatcha gonna do?

I think of spatzle as a cross between pasta, dumplings and scrambled eggs. It is has a chewy, dense, doughy, sort of uncooked loveliness to it. I think you're either into such things or you're not. Just for the record, I am!

I was delighted when friend, Christina gave me her extra spatzle maker and her recipe to boot! I made it a couple times this winter and then again for my mom on the last day of her visit. We had a ball. It is as fun to make as it is delicious to eat. I searched on line for additional recipes and was surprised to find a large variation in them. Mostly with the addition of richer ingredients; cream, chicken broth and more eggs. Silly! I am smitten with the simple recipe Christina shared with me. Why complicate matters? Here is her spatzle recipe along with directions.

Spatzle

400 grams flour
4 eggs
250 ml water
salt

Making Spatzle

1) Whisk flour and salt together in a large bowl. Make a well and add the eggs and water. Combine. Dough will resemble very wet, sticky pizza dough. It's a cross between a dough and a batter. If it seems wrong, it is probably right.

Ready to Make Spatzle

2) Boil water in a large spaghetti pot. Set spatzle maker onto of pot.

Spatzle

3) Add about 1/3 of the dough into the maker. Move cup part of the maker back and forth. Little globs of dough will come out and fall into the boiling water. Look at my mom in action!

Boiling Spatzle

4) As soon as the globs come to the surface of the water, skim them out into a colander and rinse with cold water. Repeat with remaining 2/3rds of dough.

YOU MADE SPATZLE!!

To the spatzle I add some Gruyere cheese and caramelized onion. I put 1/2 of the spatzle into a non stick skillet and let it warm up. Next I add the cheese and onion and cook until melt-y and delicious. Oh, don't forget to add LOTS of fresh ground pepper. You'll need salt too. Serve with a big green salad. Or not.

Spatzle

12 comments:

Leslie said...

this looks amazing...i could eat a big bowl of this right now!

Road Trippers said...

Darn! I forgot to have us make this. It sounds like a perfect food to me,too.

Dana said...

I've always wondered how this is made. While I'll eat it during visits to Germany (and Austria?), I don't craze it when I'm gone from those places.
Can it be made without the fancy kitchen device? It looks like a fun thing to do!

Expat Women said...

Hi Katy,

Regina here, for ExpatWomen.com.

I would like to personally invite you to list your blog on our Expat Women Blog Directory (www.expatwomen.com/expatblog/) so that other women can read about and learn from your expat experiences.

Many thanks in advance for your contribution and keep up your great blog!

Regina

swissluxi said...

I looooove "Spätzle", especially the "Kässpätzle" :-)...the best comfort food ever :-), besides chocolate of course :-)).

likeschocolate said...

I have never had carmalized onions with Spaetzel, but I bet it is devine. Yummy@

Into the blue said...

My grandma used to make this but I was unsure of the recipe. She actually used to add it to chicken soup instead of noodles. I'll try it with cheese and onions-looks delicious! Thanks Katy for posting it.
Ingrid

Into the blue said...

Oh, and by the way, you can make tit without that fancy kitchen device. Use a larger coarse grater and only add a tablespoon at a time. Move it aroung with a spoon until it all goes in a pot and repeat. It will take longer but that's how my grandma used to make it...

Jessica said...

I am so going to try and make that!!!

Sarah at Candiquik said...

Love these noodles, German grandmother will do that to ya :) and never had it with the onions, etc, always have had it with lentils/hamhocks..but it sounds good regardless! Thanks for the post!

WasSoggyInSeattle said...

It looks like something I could really, really enjoy!! Yummers!

nicole said...

You can also use a big pasta strainer, the plastic kind with holes rather than slits.

And thanks for the inspiration, I know what's for dinner tonight ;-)

(I don't usually make the spaetzle myself, I just buy them and I put them in the pan, add fresh choped onions, let it all cook until the onions look a little golden then I add milk, grated cheese and pepper, wait till it's kind of gooey and "sticks" to the pan a bit, then I turn it carefully to brown the other side. YUM!)

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