My Favorite Winter Comfort Food: Spaetzle

When the holidays have passed and the cold, long winter ahead gets me down, my meals often turn toward comfort foods. And my ultimate favorite in comfort foods is spaetzle. These noodle-like dumplings embrace a light butter sage sauce and hold up even in meaty casseroles. Read on for spaetzle recipes and inspiration!

Don't let the spaetzle process scare you: you don't need special equipment besides a large slotted spoon, colander, or course grater. If you have a spaetzle maker or a ricer, even better! It takes a few tries to get the hang of forcing the batter through the vessel, but once you establish a rhythm, the dumplings cook in no time. Here are a few recipes - basic and involved - to get you started this winter season:

• Ricotta Spaetzle
• Spaetzle With Kielbasa and Caramelized Onions from Melissa Clark for the NY Times
• Pan-Browned Spaetzle with Shallots and Herbs from Smitten Kitchen
• Hand-Cut Spaetzle from Food and Wine

Do you love spaetzle? What's your favorite way to serve it?

Related: Easiest Pasta Ever: Spaetzle

(Images: Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
; Wikipedia Commons)

Comments (9)

Just a clarification: the dish on the left are Spaetzle, the dish on the right would rather be called Knoepfle (translates roughly as "tiny buttons") because of their rounder shape.

However, in some regions Knoepfle designates Spaetzle, both words are after all derived from dialects. (Link to Wikipedia)

If you don't possess a grater, you could also do it with a knife or a dough scraper, if you have that handy.

Thank you for the reminder to make this again!

I made Spaetzle for the first time last year after seeing a youtube video of someone's grandma making it. She poured the batter on a cutting board and scraped it little by little into the pot. Her technique was a joy to watch, like an artist in action! :)

@miss.homard - I thought knoephla (how we spelled it in the Midwest) were long rolled sections of homemade noodle dough that were cut into short pieces and boiled? I think the dough recipe might also be different. The spaetzle I've had seem more eggy than knoephla.

But yes, I agree that spaetzle are pretty much always longish and thin.

I make my spaetzle with a food with using the plate with the largest holes. In the past I had used a flexible plastic cutting board that I had drilled 1/4" holes into. I like the food mill much better.

Seeing the spaetzle makers in the kitchen store gave me the idea to use the food mill as the operations are almost identical.

Any way you make it though, spaetzle is awesome! Just last week we made schnitzel and spaetzle for dinner. Happy tummies all around. Ahhhhhhhhh.

I make spaetzle with a potato ricer. It's got two inserts, one with small holes for potatoes and one with larger holes for making spaetzle.

I make a thicker dough, roll it out and cut it with a pizza cutter. Quick and easy. Then I pan fry it with garlic, parsley and parmesan.

I just made käse spätzle (with caramelized onions) for a new years brunch using a spätzle tool I brought with me from Germany. It's like a large holed grater with a plastic spatula you use to push the dough through directly into the pot of salted water. It was heaven on a plate. A big hit with guests.

That's like my ricer, madhausfrau! If you can roll it out, it's pasta, not spätzle.