Spaetzle

 
 Have you ever had spaetzle? It's a German egg noodle that you make by dropping the dough into boiling water. It's SUPER simple to make and is ready in literally less than 10 minutes! Well, wait...actually, that's not necessarily true....
 If you make it the old fashioned way (by using a knife to scrape the dough off the cutting board into the pot), it takes a while and probably requires LOTS of practice and German grandmother to teach you.
 It CAN be ready in as little as 10 minutes, though, if you have a spaetzle maker! It's a simple kitchen gadget that kind of looks like a flat cheese grater with a container that sits on top. When you slide the container back and forth, the dough gets pushed through the holes into the pot of boiling water and creates noodles. How fun is that? So simple, yet so brilliant. They're extremely inexpensive too! (You can also get them for as little as $10.00 on Amazon.com!)
 So buy yourself a handy dandy little spaetzle maker and give this recipe a try. I promise you, once you try it, you'll be making it all the time!

4 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup of milk
2 teaspoons of salt
2 cups of all-purpose flour

Mix together with a wire whisk in the order listed. Dough will be sticky, almost like a thick batter. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Spray spaetzle maker with nonstick cooking spray. Place spaetzle maker over pot and pour dough inside the holder on top. Slide back and forth over boiling water. The dough will be pushed through the holes and fall into the pot creating noodles. The spaetzle is ready when it floats. Give it an extra stir, just to make sure ll of the noodles are cooked. Remove with slotted spoon, drain. Toss with melted butter and a sprinkle of fresh parsley, if desired. Serve with sauerbraten or pork and sauerkraut.

Tip:
Instead of tossing with butter, you can chop up some bacon in a pan over medium heat to render the fat, then add the cooked spaetzle and give everything a good toss.  So good!

 Oh, and one other thing....
Everyone seems to have a different way of saying it. Do you say it like SPATE-zul? Or like SHPET-zul? Or combine the two, and say SPET-zul? Anyone? anyone?