Spaetzle
These German dumplings are the perfect side dish for anything that has a rich gravy to cling to the spaetzle.
Equipment
- Small mixing bowl
- 3-quart saucepan or kettle
- Slotted spoon or mesh spider
- Colander
- Pastry bag or zippered baggy
- small knife
Ingredients
- 2 quarts water
- 1 egg beaten until frothy
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 Tbsp. water or broth
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp. sea salt
- ¼ tsp. baking powder
- 3 Tbsp. melted butter or olive oil
Instructions
- Place the water in the kettle and bring to a rolling boil.
- While waiting for the water to come to a boil, mix the dumpling batter.
- Whisk the egg, milk and 1 tablespoon of water together.
- Add the flour, salt and baking powder. Whisk just until free of lumps.
- Place batter in the pastry bag (without a tip), or the baggy. Snip a half-inch off the tip of the plastic bag. Do the same if the pastry bag is a disposable one.
- Over the boiling water, hold the bag of batter about 6 inches above the water line and begin to squeeze until about an inch of batter exudes from the bag.
- Use a paring knife for this: With a slicing motion placed at the mouth of the bag, slice downward so the inch of batter drops into the boiling water. Continue until all the dough is used up.
- Do this rather quickly so all the dumplings cook at the same time. Boil for about 8 minutes.
- Remove spaetzle with the slotted spoon and place in the colander to continue to drain.
- Toss gently with the butter or oil and serve immediately.
Notes
*To further evaporate the water from the hot dumplings, fry briefly in butter or oil.
*Serve with roasted or braised meats, dressing spaetzle with pan drippings or gravy.
*Spices, dried herbs or fresh parsley may be mixed into the batter before cooking.
*Top with buttered bread crumbs and place under the broiler until crumbs are nicely browned.