These are rich dumplings in a richer sauce, and the whole creates an amazing dinner. Spaetzle are little egg dumplings popular in parts of Europe, especially Germany, Austria, Switzerland. You can make spaetzle from scratch (see at the very bottom, below, for homemade spaetzle), but you also can find commercially made noodles marketed as spaetzle at places like Lidl and Aldi. The commercial noodles aren't up to the real thing, but they're just fine when you're in a hurry. The commercial version of spaetzle is far better when dressed up with a bacon-cheese sauce. The sauce is quick to do and provides smoky-salty warmth to the little noodles. I use Swiss cheese from Aldi, which seems to work just fine. Emmentaler is traditional and excellent, but quite pricey. The spaetzle makes a nice main dish and also is great as an accompaniment to meats--think of it as a German macaroni and cheese.
Spaetzle in Bacon-Cheese Sauce -- Serves 4-6
8-10 ounces of spaetzle, homemade (see below) or cooked according to package
directions until just barely done
2 teaspoons of canola oil
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup of bacon crumbles
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
2 cups of low-fat milk
1/2 cup of flour
1-1 1/2 cups of shredded Swiss cheese
In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the onion and saute it until it turns translucent and begins to brown a bit--5-10 minutes. Add the bacon crumbles, pepper, salt, and nutmeg and stir to combine everything. Whisk the flour into the milk until smooth, turn down the heat under the skillet to medium-low, and whisk the milk-flour mixture into the onion-bacon mixture in the skillet. Stir the mixture in the skillet until it thickens and coats a spoon. Stir in 1 cup of the Swiss cheese until it melts. Add the spaetzle and stir to coat it with the sauce. If you'd like, you can sprinkle on another 1/2 cup of Swiss cheese before you serve the spaetzle--warm and oozing with smokey, cheesy bacon sauce.
Homemade Spaetzle
1/2 c. water
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. double-acting baking powder
small grating of nutmeg
In a large bowl or measure whisk together well the flour, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg. Whisk the water and eggs together in a small bowl. Pour the water/egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir the ingredients together with a spoon. You want a batter that's a little thicker than pancake batter (it needs to go through holes but not drip through), so if the batter is too thin, add a little more flour, or, if too thick, add a little more water. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then reduce the heat to a high simmer. You can use a spaetzle maker or a colander or anything similar with large holes in it. I often use a colander with big holes because my spaetzle maker hides in my cupboard. Add some of the batter (not all--it's best to do the spaetzle in batches) to the utensil and, with the back of a spoon, press it through the holes into the water. Let the spaetzle cook a few minutes until the rise to the top of the water. Scoop the noodles out into a bowl using a slotted spoon and then cook the remaining batter.
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