Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter, plus 1 tablespoon
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 4 eggs
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 cup whole milk ricotta
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium heat. Melt the 4 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet and reserve.
Brush the interior of a large bowl with the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and set aside.
Whisk the flour and salt and pepper, to taste, together in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and water well and fold in the ricotta and thyme. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour and whisk well until smooth. The batter should be the consistency of a thick pancake batter; add more water, if necessary.
In batches, with a large rubber spatula, hold a colander with medium holes over the boiling water and push the batter through the holes into the water. Cook each batch until they all float, about 1 minute. Using a large strainer or slotted spoon, lift them out of the water, shake off the excess water, and drop them into the buttered bowl. Continue cooking spaetzle, tossing in the buttered bowl to keep them from sticking.
Bring the skillet with the melted butter to a simmer over medium heat and cook until the butter begins to brown a bit. (The milk solids will turn golden brown in the bottom of the skillet.) Add the spaetzle and toss well to coat in the browned butter. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve immediately.
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By catchtanya
Annapolis, MD
on October 30, 2012
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Excellent recipe. My only gripe is this is time consuming.
By lgnc22
on September 10, 2012
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I used this recipe from Claire's "5 Ingredient Fix" Cookbook. The dough flavoring turned out deliciously! I've made this twice...but an inexpensive spaetzle maker used this time worked MUCH better than the recommended colander trick I tried last time. Her book's recipe called for only 3 TBSP water, so the dough was thick, but easily handled by spaetzle maker. I left the spaetzle in the skillet a bit longer than just tossing, as I like a little barely-fried touch to the surface of my spaetzle.
I had a block of swiss on-hand, so I shredded a little into the bowl and tossed that with the hot spaetzle to make it slightly like a Käse-Spätzle! Not too much cheese so as to overtake the flavor, just enough to compliment. My husband LOVED this!
This time, I also used Egg Beaters in place of eggs and part-skim ricotta instead of whole milk, and it turned out just fine. I will likely make it that way again, as it does save a tad bit on cholesterol and calories without sacrificing the flavor.
By mac_daly_12698308
Auburn, 43
on September 01, 2012
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Thank Claire, for showing me how easy it is to make one of my favorite side dishes! The browned butter at the end was inspired. It took a littler muscle to push the batter through the colander holes, but that's what I have a sous chef (aka hubby for.
Read all 16 reviews