Spaetzle (german egg noodle)

a few hundred yr old family heirloom recipe, nbd

Growing up, when my mom made spaetzle, it was a BIG DEAL. Once I heard those fresh egg noodles sizzling in the pan, I knew it was either a) a religious holiday or b) dad’s birthday.

For all of you out there who are unfamiliar with German cuisine, spaetzle is a traditional German egg noodle that translates to “little sparrows.” They’re doughy, buttery, and perfeccccct for soaking up lots of gravy / other meat juices. It’s often enjoyed as a side dish, but I’m inclined to eat this as the whole damn meal (and usually straight from the pan with my fingers). It’s a terribly simple dish (just flour, salt, egg, and water - just like fresh Italian pasta is made). But like most simple dishes, this one is all about the technique, baby.

Spaetzle really makes me swoon because it’s such a dear recipe to my family. My great great great grandmother immigrated to the US from Germany in the mid-1800s and brought all of her recipes with her. In the 1940s, my great grandmother Ruth ran a store in Columbus, Ohio that also sold hot meals, and she wanted to make spaetzle, but they couldn’t find a spaetzle press in Ohio at the time (go figure!). So a fellow German woman who worked for her sent away for a press from her family who was still in Germany. And this, my friends, is the press that I still have today - passed down from my great-grandmother, to my grandmother, to my mother, and then to me. A lot of strong ass woman have used this press - and I mean physically as well as mentally, since it takes a lot of upper arm strength to use this thing ; )

It’s such a homey dish that I always associate with important family gatherings and long dinners at the table - the OG sobremesas. My mom says she has the same associations from growing up.

Because it’s not just flour, eggs, salt, and water - it’s the ooey gooey memories. You know what I mean? Do you have a family recipe that makes you feel that way?

Another important reason I love this dish is that my two main food groups are pasta and butter. After boiling the fresh noods, you fry them up in a pan of butter and salt and I get so hot and bothered. And there is NOTHING that will get in the way of me grabbing noodles piping hot straight from the pan. I swear it just tastes better this way. Highly recco.

In our family, we always served this with a good ole’ roast and gravy. But a few years ago I took a trip to Germany and saw spaetzle bars where you could choose different spaetzle mix-ins like cheese, caramelized onions, chicken and WOW that was fun.

I will say that this recipe requires a very specific noodle press. I normally only post recipes that don’t require special equipment, and I doubt your great grandmother also passed down her spaetzle press to you …

But this is a special occasion! Read for the noodle porn or honestly maybe you wanna go buy that spaetzle press after you read this recipe :)

Spaetzle

4-6 side portions

Ingredients

1 ¾ cup flour
3 eggs
¼ cup water
1 tsp salt
½ stick unsalted butter
Chopped parsley, to garnish

Let’s do it!

1. Add flour and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine.

2. Make a little well in the flour mixture.

3. Add eggs and water in the middle of the flour well.

4. Using a spatula or your hands, incorporate the flour into the egg/water mixture from the middle and slowly work your way out until the flour is fully incorporated.

5. You will need to use your hands towards the end to fold in the flour. Be careful to not overwork the dough! Just enough to get the flour mixed in. Note: at the end this will be a sticky icky mess.

6. Cover and let the dough rest for 15 mins. When the dough is ready, it should be a little more smooth (but still sticky as hell).

7. Meanwhile, boil a large pot of water with a few generous pinches of salt

8. At the same time, take a large skillet and set to medium-high heat. Add the butter and brown it by letting it swirl in the pan until it smells amazing and brown bits start to form.

9. Take your spaetzle press and set it over the boiling water.

10. In batches, press the dough through into the water.

11. Boil for about 2-3 mins, until tender.

12. Using tongs, take the noodles out of the water and place them directly into the hot brown buttery pan, covering the entire surface. If your pan doesn’t fit all of the noodles in one layer, then do this in batches rather than overcrowd the pan.

13. Let the noodles fry up on one side for about 4-5mins until they start to get golden brown.

14. Then, flip the noodles so the other side gets crispy.

15. When finished, sprinkle the parsley over the noodles, and add salt and pepper to taste.
    

    

Happy cooking.

Love ya mucho,

Tessa