Eat this now: Herbed Spatzel

Spätzle is a delicious German dish of tiny noodles or dumplings. Before the invention and use of mechanical devices to make these noodles, they were shaped by hand or spoon, and the results resembled Spätzen, the German word for sparrows. Enhanced with fresh herbs, spätzle makes a delicious accompaniment to any pork, sausage or chicken.

Recipe
2 lb. All-Purpose flour
2 Tbsp. salt
7 Eggs
3 1/2 cups water
1/2 total cup chopped parsley, rosemary and thyme

In a large bowl, mix the flour, herbs and salt together. Then, in a separate bowl, combine the water and eggs. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry until loose dough forms. Now, fill a medium sized pot halfway with water, season with a good pinch of salt and bring to a boil.

Using a kitchen colander with holes about the size of pencil erasers you will make the spätzle. Place the colander over the pot of boiling water and push 1/4 of your spätzle dough through the colander into the boiling water. Once all the spätzle is floating, remove them and allow them to cool on a large cookie sheet with a drizzle of olive oil. After all the spätzle is cooked, you’re ready to sauté.

For this dish, we have chosen to serve it with roasted chicken, but spätzle would also be great with pork or sausage. To me, spätzle is best when sautéed until golden brown and crispy. In the case of the chicken pictured here, we have added some apple and homemade sour kraut. To sauté the spätzle, heat one tablespoon of olive oil with 1/2 tablespoon of butter. Just when the oil and butter start to smoke, add 1-2 cups of spätzle. Once nicely browned and crispy, it is ready to serve. Spätzle is also delicious by itself with a little Parmesan cheese grated over the top.