Spätzle is a German/Austrian/Switzerland egg noodle dish almost like a pasta or dumpling. It was weird eating this as often as we did growing up considering we are a very Italian household. Don't get me wrong, we had plenty of rich Italian soups and braises served over polenta, but we’ll talk about that another day. Normally served as a side dish to brats and sausages or roasted meat dishes, Spätzle is typically served with cheese or fresh herbs and caramelized onions. Now, maybe normal people would stop there but these tasty little noodles can be taken way further than that. Use ‘em as a substitute to fries for poutine, serve ‘em under fried eggs, make ‘em smaller and use them in baked mac & cheese, get creative!

This recipe is incredibly easy and you’ll find, through your own experiments, what ratio of egg to flour you like, how chewy you want them or if you need to make any variation in how you cook them. 

Heres What You'll Need: 

1 cup AP flour 

3 eggs 

1/4 cup water 

1/2 t fresh grated nutmeg 

salt & pepper to taste 

Place all your ingredients in a bowl together and whisk. Personally I'm not the biggest fan of black pepper but I put a good heaping in this recipe. It should make a nice batter, slightly thicker than pancake mix. Let the mixture sit aside for 10 minutes to really settle. In the meantime, bring a medium pot of water to a boil. 

Next, spread the batter on a cutting board in a thin layer. With a butter knife or the back of a palate knife scrape little pieces into the boiling water. They should only take 45-60 seconds, depending how big you're making them, and they will start to float when they are done. Take them out and they can either be eaten right away or you can put them in an ice bath to stop their cooking. I like to sear mine after they're boiled to give them a nice crispy texture so I almost always shock or blanch mine in a water bath. 

To finish cooking them, get a pan hot with a little bit of olive oil and butter. You may be wondering, why both? Well, the butter is going to give you the flavor you want, especially after it starts to brown and get toasty, and olive oil has a higher smoking point so it can withstand higher temperatures for frying. When the butter starts bubbling, throw in your spätzle. They brown fast so this step will only take a few minutes. 

In my opinion, the best way to eat spätzle is with caramelized onions and thyme but you can dress it up to your own liking. Julienne, or thinly slice, 2 onions and get them in a hot pan, medium high heat, with some butter and olive oil. Move the slices around until they start to turn translucent. Then drop the heat and season with salt. The salt helps draw out all of the juices and will help with the cooking process; you also won't have to add more oil because the juices prevent them from sticking. However, you want this to happen gradually so we drop the heat and continue cooking the onions for about 10 minutes, turning them every couple minutes to ensure even browning. When they’re done, throw in a few sprigs of thyme and season to taste with salt and pepper. These can be tossed in with your spätzle once you’ve finished browning them in a pan. 

To finish cooking them, get a pan hot with a little bit of olive oil and butter. You may be wondering, why both? Well, the butter is going to give you the flavor you want, especially after it starts to brown and get toasty, and olive oil has a higher smoking point so it can withstand higher temperatures for frying. When the butter starts bubbling, throw in your spätzle. They brown fast so this step will only take a few minutes.

Tags: German, side dish, pasta, fall, comfort food, spatzle, recipe, recipes