sunday suppers - spaetzle

I've got major German brain right now.  Not only am I currently taking German lessons, but I'm also researching and planning our trip to Germany next year.  In my brain it's Germany, all day long.

No surprise that with all this German thinking, comes a craving for German food.

turkey & spinach for me - german bratwurst for him

I'm sure when you think of German food you think of sausage, beer, and likely those giant, soft pretzels.  All delicious.  I, however, had a craving for something a little different, something that my Oma makes:  spaetzle.

I remember my mom saying that she thought that spaetzle looked like "little brains" when she was growing up.  I don't care what they look like, spaetzle are delicious.

The spaetzle themselves only consist of three ingredients.  Flour, eggs, and milk.  Needless to say, spaetzle by itself is a little bland.  That's why it's normally served with some sort of gravy, or mixed with some shallots and herbs.  I did the latter.  It was delicious.

I have to say, I felt very proud while making this dinner.  I felt very "German" and very happy that I can serve something to my children that my Oma once made for me, and her children.

SPAETZLE
from Smitten Kitchen

2 cups flour
7 large eggs
1/4 cup milk

Mix together all ingredients.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge for an hour (or longer, even overnight).

Once you've refrigerated the batter and you're ready to start cooking, fill a large pot 3/4 full with water and bring to a boil.  While the water is heating, prepare an ice bath (ice + water = ice bath) in a large bowl and set aside.  Once the water is boiling, salt the water really well.  Then, take a colander and a flexible spatula, put 1/4 to 1/3 of the spaetzle batter into the colander and press it through the colander into the boiling water with the spatula.*  Once you've got all the batter through the colander, let the spaetzle cook in the boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes.  Once cooked, fish the spaetzle from the boiling water with a slotted spoon and dump it into the ice bath.  Continue this process until you've used all the batter.

Once all the spaetzle is in the ice bath, drain throughly and toss with a little olive oil to prevent it from sticking together.  You can either use the spaetzle right away, or put it in the fridge for up to one day.

I chose to saute the cooled spaetzle with some butter.  If you're serving the spaetzle with some sort of gravy I'd stop at this point and serve.  If not, keep going.  After I had some nice browning on the spaetzle, I added two minced shallots, salt, and pepper, and cooked for another minute or so.  Just before serving, I removed the pan from the heat and tossed in some fresh, chopped parsley. Serve immediately.  I served this with sausage and some roasted asparagus.

*Note: I found this process took longer than I had anticipated as the batter was fairly thick.  Only attempt if you've got some time on your hands.  Also, be warned that you'll probably get the spaetzle batter all over your kitchen and it will take a bit of time to clean it up.  You've been warned, but it's definitely worth it :)