The EASIEST most delicious pasta.... ever... seriously!

My grandmother is German. Growing up we would always bake together, she would teach me the German words for things, and she would make some of the most incredible meals I've ever had. For Christmas, she cooks this incredible pasta dish with stroganoff (yes, I know stroganoff isn't German but Russian, she makes it anyway because it is delicious). The noodles, called spätzle, are so easy to make if you have the right tools, plus it takes no time at all! Its endlessly better than boxed pasta, super rustic looking, and sooooooo good. For my bridal shower, my grandmother bought me a spätzle maker, because the first time she met my husband (when we were newly dating) was on Christmas, and he stood in the kitchen and made spätzle like a boss, impressing the hell out of her. She then told me I could keep him, which I did <3.... BUT I digress! 

  I am the proud owner of a spätzle maker, and because of how easy it is to use, we use it every few weeks. Below is the recipe I've been using to make Grandma's spätzle. I hope you try it sometime!

You will need

• 5 eggs
• Sparkling water (depending on how large your eggs are will determine how much water... I suggest keeping a bottle on hand OR if you have a Soda Stream or something like it just make a bottle in that machine. We LOVE our Soda Stream because we have sparkling water on demand!- this is not a paid advertisement, just my thoughts on my Soda Stream)
• 4.5 cups of flour
• Stand mixer, hand mixer or just an old-fashioned whisk and wooden spoon! (If you use your stand mixer, you will use the whisk to incorporate the ingredients and then the flat paddle attachment to beat the air in. Similarly, you will need to use a big spoon if you use a hand mixer that does not have a paddle attachment)
• Spätzle maker (I have this one, which also doubles as a potato ricer. I love it because it is easy to use and clean. They also make pot lids that you can feed the dough through and you can even cut it by hand if you are that ambitious. I figure if a spätzle maker is good enough for Grandma its good enough for me!)
• a few pinches of salt
• 1 TBSP butter

Steps

1. Put a LARGE pot on to boil with VERY salty water... we're talking ocean-salty.
2. Begin to melt the butter into a saucepan to brown it (I don't burn mine because I don't care for burnt butter, but if you like burnt butter then go for it!)
3. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl. (If you don't you will get lumps in your pasta and that's just not nice!)
4. Beat the eggs in using your whisk attachment.
5. Once incorporated, begin to slowly pour small amounts of sparkling water into your dough while running the whisk. (I like thick noodles, so I stop when the dough starts to drip slowly off the spoon, but if you want thinner noodles you can always add more water, even after you start cooking the noodles!)
6. Once you have reached the desired consistency, add salt and begin to beat the dough in round motions from under the dough (bottom of the bowl) back to the top to get some air into it, either using a large spoon or the paddle attachment on a high speed. (It is like you are trying to flip the dough over from its base.)  
7. When your water has reached a rolling boil, pour ½-1 C dough into your desired apparatus(Spätzle maker for me)to get your noodles into the boiling water.  
8. When the noodles float, they are done! (You can remove them with a slotted spoon or ladle and place them into a bowl, adding a small amount of your brown butter to each batch you place in the bowl.)
9. We like to throw batches into the brown-butter frying pan before serving them to get some added crispiness and to deepen the flavor of the butter.

You can serve this dish with whatever you like. We usually do a stroganoff (look for the recipe this week) but they are just as good with some butter and salt served alongside veggies.You can be super decadent and add some cheese to the dish, which is also really tasty.

If you make this delightful German dish, be sure to tag me on instagram @DrParko121314

~Guten Appetit~

-Dr. P