Spatzle

Made the Spatzle from the Wanderlust Kitchen recipe for lunch today and they were fabulous! Only thing I would change is slightly less salt, and perhaps slightly less white pepper.  I cooked them in salted water, and used salted butter, and perhaps this is why tasted a little salty for me.  So in the recipe below, I'm reducing the salt and white pepper.

Otherwise they worked out perfectly. I had tried making spatzle in the past and it had turned out disastrously, even using the spatzle maker. I think the dough I made was too soft. Didn't understand how it worked. This time it worked perfectly. When you load the hollow white slider on the rail, as you slide it back and forth, the dough grips the metal and the edges of the hollow slider, and sort of "rolls" like a wave. And perfect little spatzle pieces fall off. I did use AP flour (not sure if bread flour will work as well) and kosher salt. The "dough" is pretty firm and sticky. 

Spatzle

PREP TIME 5 minutes
COOK TIME 10 minutes
TOTAL TIME 15 minutes

Makes about 6 cups

Ingredients

4 eggs
1/3 cup milk (I used 2%)
1.5 teaspoons kosher salt (originally 2 tsp)
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon white pepper (originally 1 teaspoon)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, melt the butter in the microwave, then stir in the white pepper and nutmeg, and set aside. 
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. 
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and salt. Add in the flour and stir until well combined. (At this point you can let it rest; I rested 5 min. I wonder how well the batter would keep in the fridge overnight, or for a few days? would it need to come to room temp?) 
4. Place your spaetzle maker over the top, then pour half of the batter into the cup of the device. Quickly slide the cup back and forth to allow the batter to drop through. Repeat with second half of batter, working quickly, until all the batter is cooking in the pot.
5. Set the spaetzle maker aside and give the dumplings a good stir in the pot. Let them cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until floating on the surface. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a large bowl. Toss with butter-spice mixture. Serve warm.