Austrian | thebrookcook

Spinach Spaetzle with Bacon and Sage

This comfort food dish is truly season-less. It’s the easiest fresh pasta recipe EVER. These little German dumplings, or batter noodles, are cooked in minutes. The noodles can be prepared several hours in advance- finishing the dish by sautéing them with bacon and sage just prior to serving.

This recipe was adapted from The New York Times, contributed by David Tanis. I modified the cooking method by using a potato ricer to form the noodles. In addition, I increased the spinach as well as the water in the batter. We ate it as a main dish but it would also be delicious as an indulgent side dish.

Yield: 6 servings

Time: about 1 hour

6 ounces baby spinach leaves
4 eggs
4 egg yolks
coarse salt
¼ tsp grated nutmeg
¼ tsp black pepper
3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
4 ounces bacon or pancetta, cut crosswise into thin slices
4 T unsalted butter
12 fresh sage leaves
grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, for serving

Drop spinach leaves into boiling water to blanch, about 30 seconds, then transfer to a bowl of ice water to cool. Drain spinach and squeeze dry.
Put cooked spinach in a blender or food processor with the eggs and yolks and blitz briefly to make a green purée.
Put spinach purée in a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, the nutmeg and the pepper.
Beat in flour and 3/4 cup cold water to make a wet, sticky batter-like dough. Beat for 5 minutes, until lump free. If the mixture seems too stiff, beat in a few more tablespoons cold water. (Because I used a potato ricer, I thinned the batter to a more runny consistency by incorporating an additional 3 T of water.)
Leave batter to rest at room temperature, covered, for 15 minutes. Prepare an ice-water bath. Place a colander within the ice-water bath.
Bring a large wide pot of well-salted water to a boil.
Holding the potato ricer over the boiling water, fill it with 1-2 ladles of batter; close and press the batter into the water.
Let the spaetzle cook for 1 minute or so, until they rise to the surface. Remove with a skimmer and immediately cool in the colander in the ice water. Continue until all batter is used. Drain cooked spaetzle and blot dry. (I placed the spaetzle on a rimmed baking sheet which was lined with several layers of paper-towels.) *Note: The recipe may be prepared up to this point several hours before serving.*
Just before serving, set a large wide skillet over medium-high heat. Add bacon and let it render without browning much, about 2 minutes. Pour off fat and leave bacon in pan. (To decrease the mess, I wiped out the fat with paper towels.)
Add the butter and let it foam, then add sage leaves and let sizzle for 30 seconds.
Add the cooked spaetzle and sauté, stirring with a wooden spoon until heated through and lightly browned.
Transfer to a warm serving bowl, if desired. Serve immediately with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

One Year Ago:

Orecchiette with Carrot-Hazelnut Pesto

Two Years Ago:

Whole Wheat Potato-Spinach Gnocchi with Kale-Walnut Pesto

Three Years Ago:

Haselnussmakronen: Raspberry-Hazelnut Macaroons

Oh my goodness… I hope it’s not too late to wish all of you a Happy New Year! 🙂

I am so behind on my posts- so please forgive me. I have to do a little catch-up with a couple of holiday cookie posts before I can move on! 😉

These Raspberry-Hazelnut Macaroons were a new addition to my Christmas cookie plates this year. I thought that they were special and tasty- but my biggest critics (read: my husband & my son) were skeptical. Well, let me tell you that TWO of my neighbors told me that they were their absolute favorite!! I was absolutely thrilled. 🙂

This recipe was adapted from Food and Wine, contributed by Luisa Weiss. I doubled the original recipe and reduced the baking time for a convection oven. These cookies are described as “extremely no-fuss”; they require minimal ingredients and no chilling time. Truly the hardest part of their preparation was roasting and peeling the hazelnuts!! I used a hand mixer (as instructed) but would use a stand mixer (with whisk attachment) next time to whip the whites to a little bit past soft peaks. My thought is that the cookies would be less flat as a result. I’ll keep you posted! 😉 They would also be wonderful for Valentine’s Day! ❤ ❤

Yield: approximately 30 cookies

1 1/2 cups whole hazelnuts
2 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup raspberry jam (I used Trader Joe’s)

Preheat the oven to 400° on convection. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
Spread the hazelnuts in a pie plate and toast until the skins split and the nuts are fragrant, about 10 minutes. (Alternatively, peel and roast the hazelnuts using the method described here.)
Transfer to a clean kitchen towel and  rub together to release the skins. Let  the hazelnuts cool completely.
In a food processor, pulse the hazelnuts until finely chopped.
In a medium bowl, using a hand mixer (or stand mixer), beat the egg whites with the salt at medium speed until foamy, 2 minutes. Gradually add the sugar and continue beating until soft peaks form when the beaters are lifted,  5 to 7 minutes.
Fold in the hazelnuts.
Using a 1-ounce ice cream scoop  or a soup spoon, scoop 1 1/2-inch rounds  of the batter onto the prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart.
Bake the cookies for 10 minutes on convection, or up to 11 to 13 minutes in a standard oven, or until fragrant and lightly browned; rotate the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking.
Remove the cookies from the oven and, while they’re still hot, carefully make an indentation in the center of each with  the back of a teaspoon.
In a small saucepan, boil the raspberry jam for 30 seconds, until slightly thickened. Carefully spoon about 1 teaspoon of the hot jam into the center  of each cookie. Let the jam set and the cookies cool completely before serving.