Spaetzle!

The finished dish.

Spaetzle, or spatzle, is quintessentially central European, so naturally I had to include it (or some version of it) as part of my culinary trip to Austria for my most recent You Pick Two dinner.  Spaetzle are cooked in a large pan of water brought to a rolling boil and then often sauteed in butter, or the fat of your choice, until lightly brown and crispy on the outside.  Cooked this way, it makes an excellent bed for a meaty or rich stew like a goulash, or as a fantastic starch to soak up any sauce you might find in central European cuisine.  But having already made a modern version of beef stew at my first dinner, and having recently cooked an Italian meal, I thought why not make spaetzle the "pasta" or first course for the Austrian dinner.  I think the guests were glad I did.

Making the spaetzle itself was actually quite fun and confidence boosting.  The basic process is make a dough, let it rest a bit, then press the dough through large holes in a colander to make them rain down into said pan of gently boiling water to cook for a bit.  Then scoop out the cooked dumplings to a large bowl of ice water before draining them in a colander.  Boom.  Done. 

Chef Kurt Gutenbrunner's recipe that I used for this dinner is called "quark spaetzle" - with quark being a creamy to slightly firm cheese found in lots of central and eastern European cooking.  Unfortunately, my Harris Teeter doesn't carry quark, but it does carry many varieties of greek yogurt which the chef recommended as a substitute.  The resulting spaetzle was light with a nice chew.  Frankly, this dish could easily serve as a main course with a salad, or grilled asparagus, or sauteed carrots served alongside.  But these dinners are meant to be over the top, so it served as the first course.

Cooked spaetzle after it has been drained.

Like I said, spaetzle can be served in a variety of ways.  For my dinner, I sauteed mushrooms, brussel sprout leaves, corn and peas in some butter and herbs in a large saute pan before adding a little cream to make a sauce (the recipe is also in the book).  I formed and cooked the spaetzle earlier in the day, adding a couple tablespoons of oil to the drained spaetzle, mixing about, and then chilling them in the fridge.  The spaetzle will keep up to two days in the fridge, if properly covered.  However, you could also just add the spaetzle directly to the sauce after you poach and drain them, if that works better for you.  So, here we go:

Spaetzle with a white corn, brussel sprouts, mushrooms, peas, and tarragon cream sauce*
Serves 4 as a main course, 6 as a first course

Ingredients
1/2 teaspoon salt
several grinds of fresh ground black pepper
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup quark cheese (I substituted a 7 oz. container of 2% Fage greek yogurt)
1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions
1.  Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk the flour with 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, and the nutmeg.
2.  Add the eggs, quark (greek yogurt), and cream and beat until smooth.  It should easily form a large ball of dough, if still dry add a couple tablespoons of cream till it comes together.  Let the dough rest for about 15 minutes before proceeding with the next steps.
3.  Fill a large bowl with ice water. Working in batches, press the dough through a colander with large holes using a rubber spatula into the boiling water.  I ended up using a draining ladle that I had, otherwise use a spaetzle maker.

Pressing the spaetzle dough through my makeshift maker.

 4.  Cook until the spaetzle float to the surface, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a fine sieve, transfer the spaetzle to the ice water for 1 to 2 minutes to cool, then remove to a colander to drain.
5.  Serve with your sauce of choice or saute the drained spaetzle in a couple tablespoons of butter until golden brown.

*Adapted from Neue Cuisine by Kurt Gutenbrunner