Spatzle Little German Noodle Dumplings Recipes

Steps:

• Mix together flour, salt, white pepper, and nutmeg. Beat eggs well, and add alternately with the milk to the dry ingredients. Mix until smooth.
• Press dough through spaetzle maker, or a large holed sieve or metal grater.
• Drop a few at a time into simmering liquid. Cook 5 to 8 minutes. Drain well.
• Saute cooked spaetzle in butter or margarine. Sprinkle chopped fresh parsley on top, and serve.

Steps:

• Mix eggs, flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the pepper.
• Add milk or water (your choice).
• Batter will be thick.
• Heat water or broth of choice till boiling.
• Add 1 teaspoon salt.
• Press batter through colander (preferably one with large holes), a few tablespoons at a time, into boiling water.
• Stir once or twice while boiling to prevent sticking.
• Cook until dumplings rise to surface and are tender, about 5 minutes; drain.
• Pour butter over dumplings.
• NOTES: These free-form dumplings make an unusual side dish, sprinkled with grated cheese or toasted bread crumbs.
• They can be made in hot broth instead of water, and some recipes instruct forcing the Spatzle dough directly into a boiling soup to cook, just minutes before the soup is brought to the table.
• Spatzle is also delicious drained and then fried in a little butter or margarine.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the flour with the eggs, salt, pepper, and warm water.
• Beat hard with a wooden spoon to form a thick, smooth batter.
• Continue beating for 5 minutes.
• This should be done rather energetically, by scraping the dough toward you with a regular rhythm, so as to incorporate as much air as possible.
• Let the dough rest, covered, for 15 minutes.
• Bring the salted water to a boil.
• If you are using a spaetzle mill, simply push the dough through it into the boiling salted water.
• If you do not have a mill, balance a colander (the largest you own) on the rim of the pot in which the water is boiling.
• Make sure that the water is at least 8 inches below the colander or the dough will simply congeal from the steam.
• Use a large wooden spoon to press the dough through the holes in the colander into the water.
• A third alternative is to add a little more flour to the dough (about 1/2 cup) to stiffen it.
• Remove the dough to a floured board and with a sharp knife slice it into strips about 1/4 inch wide and 1/2 inch long.
• Boil the spaetzle for 4 minutes.
• Drain in a large colander, and rinse briefly under cold running water.
• Drain.
• *Melt the butter in an ovenproof skillet.
• Saute the spaetzle for 3 to 4 minutes, then place the skillet in a 350°F.
• oven and bake for 10 minutes.
• Serves 6 to 8.
• NOTES AND VARIATIONS:*You can make the spaetzle ahead up to this point.
• Spread them out on a kitchen towel and cover them with a damp towel.
• They will keep for several hours.
• The Dumpling Cookbook.