ffwd – herb-speckled spaetzle

This was a recipe that I was a bit indifferent about. I remember my Dad liking spaetzle (and schnitzel – one of my favorite words!), because he traveled to Germany a lot for business when I was a kid. And while it wasn’t unknown in my part of the midwest, it just didn’t ever hit the radar often.

I ended up not getting the recipe made on time – trading it in for dinner with my nieces who will be returning to University in a couple of days. But happily, that allowed me to see a couple of other posts about the recipe. The dishes looked terrific, and some of the stories totally charming. And recently, I’d even seen spaetzle on menus with interesting, yummy-sounding combinations.

So, I really just had to get this one made, and I was glad that I did. After reading about the amounts this recipe makes, I decided that I’d only make a third of the recipe (there are 3 eggs, makes it easy). I didn’t take any pictures of the dough – it’s just a simple egg dough that’s pretty sticky and came together very quickly. There was no resting, and waiting, and  fiddling with it, which was nice. I didn’t have fresh herbs (which I’m sure would have made a difference), so just used a Parisian Herb Blend that I had on hand. I used a regular grater to make them, squishing the dough/batter through over the top of the boiling water. Once I got the hang of it, it was really simple. And it does, in fact, cook very fast.

I probably should have just stuck with the recipe as written. I’m sure that the broth and mushrooms would have been terrific (particularly if I’d had those fresh herbs!). But someone mentioned something about cheese… and I just happened to have some lovely freshly-grated Gruyere sitting in my refrigerator begging to be used. So instead, I did saute mushrooms, then made a bit of a cream sauce with them.

This got mixed in with the spaetzle, along with some cheese, and a little more on top.

I had this bake for just a few minutes while I prepared steaks. This would have been even better with some green vegetables (bad, lazy Candy). And I have to admit, that here, the stars were really the mushrooms with the spaetzle (and cream) just lending a nice background. I’m sure that the original recipe would be delicious. That said – um, this was great. Comfort food for sure. And the amount was truly generous for two people. It was certainly easier and faster than homemade pasta. And it did remind me of the gnocchi that we made earlier. Don’t know if it will be something I’d make often, but it was really, really good.

So, this was a fun, unexpected, start to 2013 for French Fridays with Dorie. I’m looking forward to cooking with you all again over the next year!