I don't know where I
first heard about spaetzle but I
really like it. People
associate it with Germany but
Wikipedia says its origin is
unknown. Wherever it came from
it's really easy to make and
delicious. It's
very much like pasta but easier to
make and you can use it like pasta
in many dishes. They make
special spaetzle makers but a cheese
grater with big holes will
work. This recipe combines
spaetzle, sausage, and mushrooms for
an easy to make hearty dinner
| Spaetzle |
|
| 2¼ cups |
all-purpose flour |
| 1 tsp |
salt |
| 1
tsp |
ground white pepper |
| 3 |
large eggs |
| ¾
cup |
whole milk |
| The Rest |
|
| 1 lb |
Italian Sausage (sweet, mild, or hot it's up to
you) |
| 1 lb |
fresh mushrooms, sliced |
| 1 |
medium onion, diced |
| 5 oz |
fresh spinach |
| 1 tbl |
olive oil |
| 1 cup | chicken stock |
| ½ tsp |
basil |
| ½ tsp | thyme |
| ½ tsp | oregano |
| ½ tsp | granulated garlic |
If you bought
sausage in the casing remove it from the casings. Put the
sausage and the onions in a large deep non-stick frying
pan. Brown the sausage over medium heat, breaking it up as
it cooks. The onions will cook with the sausage.
When the sausage is cooked and the onions are clear, remove the
sausage and onions from the pan and put them on to a paper towel
lined plate to drain and get rid of as much of the rendered fat
as possible. Wipe the frying pan out and add the olive
oil. Keeping the heat on medium, add the spinach and
mushrooms and cook until they have given up their liquid and it
has evaporated. Add the cooked sausage and onions, basil,
thyme, oregano, and garlic and stir well. Turn the heat as
low as your stove will go. Just warm enough to keep the
sausage mixture warm.
Blend the
flour, salt and pepper together in a bowl. Mix in the milk
and eggs making a soft batter. Bring a large pot of salted
water to a boil and set a second large bowl to the side.
Working with ⅓ cup of batter at time and using a rubber spatula,
press the batter directly through ¼" holes on a cheese grater or
spaetzle maker and let it fall directly into the boiling
water. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring the spaetzle to keep
it from sticking together. Scoop the spaetzle out of the
water with a slotted spoon, drain, and add the spaetzle to the
sausage mixture. Keep doing this until you run out of
spaetzle batter. When you are done cooking the spaetzle,
clean everything the batter touched ASAP or at least get it
soaking in water because spaetzle batter sticks like glue.
Add the
chicken stock to the frying pan and cook until the stock almost
completely evaporates. Leave a small amount of chicken
stock in the pan and the spaetzle will absorb it.
Serve.