Whole Wheat Spaetzle
By the Gracious Vegan
My maternal grandparents immigrated from Germany in the 1920s. I learned about spaetzle at a young age but didn’t see anyone make it by hand (with a knife and a special spaetzle board) until I visited my great aunts in Germany when I was a grad student. The aunts made “Kaesespaetzle” (cheese spaetzle) for me as a vegetarian. Now I usually eat spaetzle with a stew (like my Mushroom Lentil Stew or Hoppin’ John Stew), but it also tastes great with sauces (see below the recipe for suggestions) or less healthy options like vegan butter or vegan cheese.
Makes 2.5 cups of spaetzli, 4-5 servings
Blend the following ingredients together in a blender (a bullet blender works) or with an immersion blender. It should be like a thick pancake batter, so add more flour if you need to.
1.5 – 1.75 cups whole wheat pastry flour (start with 1.5 cups)
2/3 cup unsweetened nondairy milk
1/2 cup water
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon kala namak
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
Cover the batter and let it rest for about 15 minutes.
Bring water to boiling in a large pot on the stove. Get your spaetzle-making apparatus ready. Hold the apparatus over the boiling water, place some batter into the receptacle and slide, turn, or push the batter through into the boiling water.
As soon as the spaetzle float to the top (usually under a minute), let them float there 10-15 seconds, then scoop them out with a slotted spoon or a spider mesh strainer into a colander. Continue until all of your batter is used up.
Ways to serve:
With a vegan stew
With a sauce, such as No-Oil Vegan Basil Pesto, 5-Minute Roasted Red Pepper Sauce Gracious Vegan Marinara Sauce, Velvety Tomato Curry Sauce, or Gracious Vegan Easy Gravy
With cooked vegetables and a sauce
In a Buddha bowl, instead of rice
With melted vegan butter (or sautéed in vegan butter)
Timing: About 40 minutes