Spätzle – Alpine noodles

 

I have written many times about Spätzle on this blog, because it’s one of my absolute favourite foods. They are traditional noodles from the Alpine regions of Southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland. For years I made the egg variant that my friends from Southern Germany taught me. But then I started making a vegan version that contained polenta and potato flour, which made me realise that eggs are not needed for the texture. Most recently I made just a wheat flour variant, as I didn’t happen to have any polenta or potato flour at hand. It turned out very good as well and I’m posting that simple recipe here today.

The tools you use are crucial for making a successful Spätzle. Hence I bought the proper tool, Spätzlehobel, with a voucher that I got for Christmas. I haven’t regretted for a minute for buying this, as it makes Spätzle cooking so easy and effortless. You just place the dough into the small plastic container and then slide it on the metal grater over a pot of boiling water. The dough drops nicely to the water and cooks there. This is a very clean and easy method to work with that dough. However I have also used a potato ricer for many years for this purpose. It is also perfectly fine. Some traditional Spätzle makers also spread the dough on a wooden board and scratch it from there to the boiling water, but I have never tried that method, as it looks like a lot of skill is needed for that.

 

Here is my recipe for these semi-wholemeal Spätzle. The basic recipe is plantbased, but I always have my Spätzle with cheese (Emmental is good for this dish) and fried onions, so my dish was only vegetarian.

Vegan Spätzle

1 cup wheat flour

1 cup wholemeal wheat flour

1-1 ½ cup water

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp salt

Mix the dough until it’s bouncy. Add more water or flour, if the texture isn’t right.

Bring water to the boil.

Press the dough through a Spätzlehobel or potato ricer to the boiling water.

Boil until the Spätzle float on the surface.

Remove the cooked Spätzle with a slotted spoon.

Serve the Spätzle with your favourite sides and enjoy!

Your VegHog