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Spaetzle


This is one of my husband's favourites.
 I don't think it is really a Mennonite specialty although it is very similar to Kielke.
 In Germany it is served alongside pork and schnitzel.
Spaetzle is wonderful served plain but is often served up smothered in mushroom gravy or fried with onions and bacon.
For those of us who have to watch our weight, a smaller helping is advised but do try them.
  
This is a Spaetzle maker.
 Prior to getting it as a gift from my Swiss neighbour, I placed a flat grater over my pot of boiling water and used a spatula to "wipe" the batter over the grater. 
 You could also use a colander with large holes, however the Spaetzle maker makes it much easier.You can find them at many kitchen stores.
Place the spaetzle maker over a large pot of boiling water. Fill the little square box with batter and then push the box back and forth over the grater holes allowing the batter to drop by little globs into the boiling water.


When the batter is gone, you let the spaetzle cook a few minutes longer and then drain and serve.

For the batter you will need:
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs, slightly beaten
  • 3/4 cup milk
  1. Place flour and salt in mixing bowl.
  2. Add eggs to milk and stir into flour until a sticky batter is formed.
  3. Bring water to a boil in a large pot, add salt.
  4. Place batter by spoonfuls in spaeztle maker or colander and push batter back and forth allowing it to fall in small globs into the boiling water.
  5. Stir spaetzle in pot occasionally to keep them from sticking together.(I often add a little vegetable oil to the pot)
  6. After the batter is used up, cook a minute or two longer.
  7. Using a large colander, drain the water off and return spaetzle to pot.
  8. Add 3 large tablespoons of butter and stir.
  9. Serve.
  10. If you like, you can carmelize a chopped onion slowly in a tablespoon or two of butter and stir these into the spaetzle before serving.
* I usually double this recipe because my husband loves them fried with bacon and onions the next day. That's if there are any leftovers.
A double recipe feeds 7 to 10 people.

40 comments:

  1. oh, so this is what they SHOULD look like....grin.
    i tried making spaetzle before and they certainly didn't turn out this way....i better try your tried and true recipe to have better success i am sure.

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  2. My German mother always topped them with butter browned dry bread crumbs.

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    1. Did she call it "schmelze"? That's what mine called it : )

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  3. This is the first time I have read about "Spaetzle." Not sure if I will try it or not, looks good.

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  4. My father's side is almost all German. One of the first dishes my mom learned to make after marrying into the family was spaetzle. We often make them by hand, without the maker (though we have one)...by just dropping the mixture into the boiling water off of a spoon. We serve them drenched in butter alongside pork and sauerkraut.

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  5. What a beautiful blog. Glad to have found it and thank you for sharing all these wonderful recipes. Warm wishes.

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  6. My mother always has to make spaetzle when she is visiting my family, is now sadly to old to make the long journey. With this recipe I shall try my hand and see how it'll go! Thanks for this post.

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  7. I have never heard of this. We do though love klieke (spelling?), so I think we would enjoy this too. Never thought of putting dough into boiling water this way. I will sometime try! But whatever the case, you do need fried onions & gravey!! Yummy!
    Cheryl

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  8. They do look like kielke..I would love to try this recipe..and I love the 'gadget' to make them.

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  9. we have a restaurant in our area that makes this....it's so yummy!

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  10. I've never made this but Terry being the noodle lover he is .. .likely would love me to make this. .
    I'll be putting a spaetzle maker on my Christmas list. ..I'll give it to him for Chrismtas. . .smile.

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  11. My great grand parents were German; I love German food! The funny thing is that the only time I had Spaetzle was when it was part of a TV frozen dinner that featured it with green beans. Later Bird's Eye frozen vegetables came out with a green bean and spaetzle; I would pick out the noodles and enjoy every buttery bite!

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  12. Thanks for this posting! I have a dear friend ,from down in the Amish belt in OH. She makes this dish, and raves about , I've actually never tried it, but am now inspired. I'm also from mennonite background, but didn't grow up with this dish....probably a different strain of mennonite :>)
    Blessings,
    lisa

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  13. I have tried Spaetzle before and it was pretty good. Thanks for the recipe :)

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  14. Also the same recipe for Knepp, which is a German dish. Drop by soup fulls into hot broth with pork and sauerkraut or snitz and knepp.

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  15. Stopping by from Rhoda's recipe party. I'm now a follower of yours! Come see me sometime, I'd be thrilled if you did.

    sweetjeanette.blogspot.com

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  16. Although I have a Spaetzle maker, I've left the making to others in the family. They are good with Schnitzel and red cabbage . . . oh and I can almost taste it wtih Bratwurst. I think I will finally have to dirty this utensil.

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  17. Oddly, the best spaetzle I ever had was served in my college dining hall. They served it plain, with just a little butter. I keep meaning to try making them myself, but I'm afraid I'd eat the entire batch.

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  18. Ahhh, I love spaetzle! I like it with swiss cheese, ham, and onions.

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  19. I ate spatzle when living in Germany with hubby in the military...usually at a restaurant...and the snitzel...hummm!!!! but never made it at home...I guess cause as a yankee we had egg noodles...bought in the store...served with butter and gravy...usually with pork chops...as usual you have come up with a great recipe again!!! thanks for sharing...love this blog...hugs...Ora in KY

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  20. We had our feast of these at your place. They are wonderful! Glad you posted this recipe. I must try making them. Kathy

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  21. I don't remember the name Spaetzle even though I have a Mennonite German , Swiss background . Mom made some thing like that called Rivle soup . She droped it in boiling beef broth . It was so good .
    Mary

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  22. This looks very much like the "gullushjas" (I have spelled it as it sounds, as I don't know the correct spelling) that my hubby's Mom makes. The difference is that the dough is boiled in potato water after the small potato cubes have been cooked and removed. The cooked dough and potato cubes are then mixed together and mixed with about 2 chopped onions that have been fried in the bacon drippings of about 1-2 packages of bacon. The dish is then eaten with the bacon. It tastes so good! ! And once or twice a year we can indulge. This was my 'initiation' into the family. :) Thanks for all the work you girls do on this blog. It is appreciated and enjoyed!
    Debbie M.

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  23. This is so funny I've been thinking about making spaezle lately, have never tried it, but was on Sassy Trash and saw your post...devine intervention at work here, gonna try it tonight...

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  24. This looks like something my friend of German descent made for me one time. She called it her comfort food. She did hers in chicken broth. And it was wonderful.

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  25. I love reading about dishes like this. Thank you!

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  26. This brings back some wonderful memories for me of my Mennonite Grandmother who lived in Maple Ridge.She would make spaetzle sometimes when we would come for visits.I remember her using her colander to press the dough through it's holes.
    Thanks for the memories.
    Debbie

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  27. The first time I had spaetzle was on my honeymoon. . . in Canada at a German restaurant. It was kasespatzle (cheese with noodles), and I loved it. My husband brought me back a spaetzle maker from a business trip to Germany a few years later.

    I have a confession. . . I use my spatzle maker most often for fixing quick, fresh noodles for soups and broths. (Esp. chicken noodle and turkey noodle.) I get the pot of soup/broth boiling, and grate the noodles right into the broth. It's delicious.

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  28. In the mid 90's I met a lady named Mrs.Hamm.
    She would make the most delicious, mouthwatering apple cake in the world and on baking day there was always one for my family.
    One other thing she shared, at least one every two weeks, was a huge container of spaetzle.
    She would come with a container of beef and rich brown gravy with onions, and the spaetzle in another container, always with lots of good butter. She was a wonderful cook and inspired me to do more with what I had. Her motto was "anything can be made to taste wonderful".
    Thank you for the article, I think I have to try my hand at these this week!

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  29. my parents were with the canadian military ,so i was born and raised in lahr germany till i moved to canada at age 10 .I recently tried making spetzle myself as there are no good german restraunts in my area .we make it nutmeg and cracked pepper in the batter and put chicken stock in the bouiling water (you can also use beef or pork stock ) .I don't have a spaetle maker so i just use a cheese grater too . I toss with some buter after its cooked but it is really good with mushroom gravy ,or buter and cheese sauce .

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  30. I made this on the weekend for the first time (just got a spaetzle maker). I tossed the spaetzle with butter and carmelized onions. Absolutely delicious and easy to make. I will make this again and again.

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  31. I learned to make this dish from a Hungarian friend. My family loves it, so I double the batch and after I drain them I put them in an oven proof dish with a lid in the fridge until I serve them. The cold keep thems from sticking together. We love them with butter but especially with Chicken Paprikash and the oniony sauce!

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  32. Yum, I just made spaetzle for the 1st time - added nutmeg to the the flour mixture. Also, brown bread crumbs in butter before adding spaetzle - soooooo gooooood !! Will definitely have them with sauerkraut next time.

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  33. I have made spaetzles before and my family can't get them enough. We have no German or Mennonite in my family background - I discovered them at a restaurant and loved them immediately. I serve them with a paprika gravy and veal or pork.

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  34. Part of my family is Swiss. This goes by another name, but my family added butter and Swiss cheese, salt and pepper to this. Rules! My grandpa puts apple sauce on his, I use ketchup :)

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  35. I have a spaetzel maker at home. My last attempt to make spaetzel to go with some chicken paprikash was less than successful. I'm going to try your recipe!

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  36. That is not a spaetzle machine.

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  37. This was sold to me as a spaetzel maker but perhaps the one you use is different. I'd love to see it.

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  38. Hi my name is Monika and I´m german and I do live in Germany. The spätze you are talking about are called Käsespätzle, and they are very good tasting!!! ;))

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  39. I have that same spaetzle maker, and it's so much easier to use than a spoon or grater! My first recipe using spaetzle was Loose Beef--ground beef cooked with a chopped onion and S&P, cooked spaetzle stirred in, served hot with dollops of sour cream. I was hooked on spaetzle immediately--so much so I bought the maker right away! I need to make it again very soon.

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