Authentic German Spaetzle
4 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
Pinch Salt & pepper
Pinch Nutmeg
2 ¾ cups flour
1/4 cup butter
Fresh parsley – chopped
Boil a large pot of salted water. Set another pot of ice water nearby.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, and nutmeg together. Gradually add the flour, and mix by hand until small bubbles form. Let rest at room temperature for 10 min.
Traditionally, the dough is chopped into fine slices directly over the boiling water, however this is precarious and difficult to master. Spaetzle Presses (essentially giant garlic presses) are also available. The third and most common solution for creating the noodles is to use a colander & another mixing bowl of approximately the same size. Hold the colander over the boiling water, and press the dough through the holes in the colander using the mixing bowl.
Cook the noodles until they float to the surface (approximately 30 seconds) and strain off the surface to the pot of ice water. Repeat as required until all the dough is cooked. Drain the ice water, and pat the noodles dry with paper towel.
In a large pan over medium heat, sauté the noodles with the butter and the parsley until lightly browned. Serve with meat and gravy.
Hint: leftover spaetzle can be better than fresh. Chop and sauté an onion in a pan with butter, and add the leftover spaetzle. Heat and serve.