Herb-Speckled Spaetzle
This Herb-Speckled Spaetzle is a hearty, herb-infused German pasta that’s delicious as a stand-alone side dish or as a vehicle to soak up marvelous juices from stews and roasts.
Herb-Speckled Spaetzle
I was excited to try this Herb-Speckled Spaetzle for French Fridays with Dorie this week. When we lived in Iowa, my in-laws would frequently visit (under the guise of taking us impoverished folk out to dinner, but the real draw was getting their hands on the grandchildren) and take us to the nearby Amana Colonies.
This quaint, former communal settlement had a number of restaurants where classic German cuisine was served, and my father-in-law was certain to order something with a side of spaetzle. Years later, when we belonged to a dinner club, our first gathering featured a German menu, and my assignment was spaetzle I made a simple noodle dough and squeezed it through a spaetzle press into boiling water.
These delicious threads of pasta were sauteed in butter, then used as a side dish for our sauerbraten. It was a snap to make.
Dorie’s Spaetzle
Dorie’s recipe adds herbs and a bit of nutmeg to the basic recipe of milk, eggs, and flour. She goes further and has us mix them with a melange of sauteed onions and sliced mushrooms.
I kept some of this herb-speckled spaetzle plain for the family and the jazzed-up version for me. I served ours with a hearty beef stew full of onions, garlic, carrots, rosemary, and thyme, simmered for hours covered with red wine and broth. It was the perfect topping for our spaetzle Hubby was not disappointed with this veer to the German side by Dorie. Neither was I.
I splurged on this German-made spaetzle press a few years ago. It works beautifully. If you don’t own this gadget, you can easily substitute a colander.
This delicious recipe can be found on Epicurious. And check out my post on How to Make Spaetzel for more tips.
44 Comments on “Herb-Speckled Spaetzle”
I love spaetzel, but I’m old school when it comes to this dish: I tend to favor the plain kind. But the addition of the herbs is mighty tempting! I’ll definitely try that. I have a spaetzel maker too, but mine is more like the food mill type, and the holes are a bit bigger. It’s funny, I was thinking earlier today that I haven’t made spaetzel for quite awhile, and had just moved it to my short list. And now your post is making me even more eager to make some! Thanks. 😉
Perfect Liz!
This was my first time and I liked it so much that I went and picked up a tool (though no where near as beautiful as the one you have!)
Wow. Your spaetzle looks beautiful! I just might have to invest in the gadget…at minimum I’ll get with the program and make it. Thanks for the extra inspiration!
Doesn’t that look delicious! I love recipes like this!
Your dinner sounds so delightful, a lovely combination, perfect for spaetzle.
Yours look perfect, with and without the dressing.
Liz, you certainly prepared perfectly looking Spätzle – aren´t these specialty Spätzle making gadgets wonderful – there are quite a few different ones available but I still prefer the wooden board and the metal “scraper” for a thinner version and my well-used “Spätzlehobel” (literally translated as a “Spätzle plane” ie the carpentry tool) for a plumper version – either way these soft egg noodles are delicious and both your versions look fabulous – so nice that your family enjoyed them so much.
Have a great weekend!
I’ve never made this before; in fact, I haven’t eaten much German cuisine before (not a lot of Germans around here) but this looks very yummy and I’m sure it was delicious with the hearty stew xx
It’s nice your kids grew up close to their grandparents. My parents are close by and my husband’s mother is about 2 hours away so my kids get to see them often. Not enough as far as they are concerned. 🙂
I love German food… we have a restaurant in Sri Lanka simply called “The German” and it’s all about the brats, meats and spaetzel. 🙂 Your spaetzel looks wonderful. 🙂
Yummy!! My German grandmother could usually be found making spaetzel to go into her chicken soup (instead of noodles). She just pushed the dough through a slotted spoon and I use her method. The spaetzel come out irregular but I sort of like that rustic look about them. Brian is a spaetzel monster so I make it for him a lot and either serve it with a roast or fry them after they’re cooked with a sauteed onion. He’s offered to buy me a spaetzel press but it’s just one more thing for me to store and wash. 🙂
Love homemade spaetzel! This is so beautifully made and I am sure it’s tasty.
I LOVE Spaetzle!!! I’ve never tried making it on my own but I’ve had it in Austria and it is so buttery and delicious. Honestly, I love all carbs, hehe 😉 Love the herb version you show here!
Great looking spaetzle! This one was really delicious.
“You can easily substitute a colander” Errr….. not so much 😉
Yours are beautiful Liz!
Happy new year!
That looks really good even though I’ve never had spaetzle before.
Your spaetzle looks delicious. I am worried about making this as I do not own a spaetzle maker – let’s see how I go.
Huh? Thats a spaetzle press? I think I have one of those! I thought it was a potato ricer! lol. Now I MAY have to make this dish after all! lol.
Your spaetzle looks so long and uniform. I’m guessing that’s how it’s supposed to be, perfect. Mine were much shorter. I have a different German spaetzle press. I wasn’t sure how much to fill it up before squeezing. It was the first time I ever ate/had spaetzle and it definitely won’t be the last. Delicious! We ate it as a main course, but as a base for beef stew sounds wonderful.
Oooh I’ve never had spaetzel before but it looks scrumptious!
Very nice! I liked this, though I don’t think I went about it as efficiently as I could have. I’m happy to hear of success stories with spaetzle makers. I’ll have to see if I can talk the husband into getting one!