Spätzle (Spaetzle - German pasta)

This is a wheat flour and egg based homemade pasta, originally from the South-West of Germany (Swabia which used to be a Land of its own but now is part of Baden-Württemberg). Spätzle are usually served with the Sunday roast.

For all of your hunting for a spaetzle press - I now have a link to a UK supplier. You can find it here.

Ingredients for 4

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Ingredients
2 3/4	cups	plain flour
4	eggs	egg
1 1/4	tablespoon	butter
1/4	teaspoon	salt
6 3/4	fl. ozs	water

Salt content: 0.2% (by weight, not counting salt in other ingredients)

Method

Step-by-Step Instructions

	Here are our ingredients (with the Spätzle press left of the salt shaker).
	Add the egg and a pinch of salt to the flour.
	Mix with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth paste.
	Add some lukewarm water and stir again until the consistency is right.
	This is what the dough should look like when you have reached the right consistency. If you have added too much water, you can balance that out by adding a bit more flour. I tend to let the dough set for about half an hour before proceeding.
	Bring lots of water with a pinch of salt added to a boil. Now place the Spätzle press over the saucepan and put one portion at a time into the press.
	Press the handle down. When you are at the end of its course, cut off the hanging Spätzle with a knife or a spatula. Traditionally, bits of dough are put on a wooden board and scraped into the boiling water using the back of a knife ... I've done that before, but it is very time consuming and also requires a fair amount of practice - so best use a Spätzle press as shown here.
	Your hob should be on full power. After about 30 seconds, the Spätzle will start to surface.
	When they have all surfaced, take them out trying to drain off as much of the water as possible. Make sure you have taken them all out, bring the water back to a boil and process the next batch.
	Put them in a dish and add a knob of butter if you like.
	Mix the melted butter into the Spätzle and serve. Alternatively, you can put the buttered Spätzle into the oven at 200 degrees centigrade / 400 Fahrenheit / Gas Mark 6 for 15 to 20 minutes and then serve.