Speaking of Spaetzle

A friend of my dad's asked for my Spaetzle recipe, and I'm thrilled to share it.

Spaetzle is a German egg noodle. My Grandmother, who is from Nurnberg, Germany, makes the best Spaetzle! Most of the time, I put a little nutmeg in mine and top it with grated Vermont White Cheddar and caramelized onions. You could also leave it plain and top it with some applesauce. Spaetzle is a great thing to make when you're really broke, short on time (takes about 5 minutes after the water boils), don't want to go grocery shopping, or want something like Mac-N-Cheese-kind of comfort food. The only good excuse you have for not trying to make it is that you don't have a Spaetzle press....

Leslie and Sam, it's time to try it... your Spaetzle maker has collected dust far too long! Here is a link describing how to make it with the very one you have. Leslie, it's also time to update your blog! :)

For this recipe, you do need some kind of Spaetzle press. Mine looks like this:

Here's another one that is pretty good.

The one I gave Leslie looks like this:

But you could also use something like this if you wanted to be really creative:


You just need something that you can hold over a large pot of boiling water with many holes that are the same size. The noodles all need to be the same size, and not larger than 1/4 inch. The dough is very liquid-y, so you won't be able to cut it or anything.

Recipe for Spaetzle *I apologize for the double spacing- Blogger Issues*
serves 4-6

dash salt

1 onion, chopped

3 cups all-purpose flour (loose-packed)

1 tsp salt.

4 eggs

1 cup milk

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 TBsp butter (optional)

Grated Vermont White Cheddar (2 or 3 cups)

1. Fill a large pot with water to boil. Add the dash of salt.

2. While waiting for water, brown the chopped onions in the TBsp of butter. Let these cook slowly over low heat. Once they're done, take them off the heat and put them in a nice bowl with a serving fork or spoon.

3. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, nutmeg and salt. Make a well.

4. Add the eggs to the well and combine with the dry ingredients.

5. Add the milk.

6. Blend ingredients until it looks like a well-mixed cake batter.

7. Set another bowl on the counter near your pot of should-be-boiling water with a colander on top of it.

8. Place your Spaetzle maker on top of the pot once the water is boiling. Drop in a large spoonful of the dough and press it into the water.

9. Wait a minute or 2 for the noodles to rise to the surface. Let them cook for about another minute.

10. Remove them from the water (noodle strainer) and place them in the colander (remember, it's over that bowl that should be next to you?).

11. Drain the water from the noodles and place them a "set" of cooked noodles at a time on a nice platter. For each set you drop, add a bit of the cheese.

12. Repeat steps 8-11 until you have used all of the dough. Top the platter with any remaining cheese.

13. Sprinkle a little salt and fresh ground pepper on top. Serve immediately!

This is great with a side salad, and it's one of few things I'll eat as a leftover. If you really want to know more, go here.