Herb Spaetzle

We made this "pasta" in class last night and I really liked it. They were like gnocchi, but smaller. It is a little difficult to get them into the boiling water with the colander, but you can always make a double batch of the dough and do a practice round first (it won't hurt the dough if some of it sits for 2 hours instead of 1). You can also add herbs or other seasoning directly to the dough, get creative! You could also use stock instead of milk in the batter.

Herb Spaetzle

Servings: 6-8

Prep Time: 10 mins
Inactive Time: 1 hr
Cook Time: 20 mins
Total Time: 1.5 hrs

Ingredients
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp white pepper
1.5 cups plus 4 T flour
3 T butter
3 T herbs (like sage, rosemary, thyme, basil), ripped or chiffonade
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add the milk, salt, nutmeg and pepper. Add the flour and beat until smooth. The batter should be thick and airy (you should see some air bubbles on the surface). If it is too thin you can always add more flour. Let the batter stand for 1 hour (refrigerated or not) so that the gluten can relax.
Boil water with a bit of salt in a wide mouthed pot on the stove. When the water is at a rolling boil, use a colander with large holes or perforated spoon and place the batter in the colander (or spoon) and press it through the holes with a spoon (see picture above). The spaetzle will float to the top, let it cook for 3-5 minutes or until there is no flour taste and it is light and airy. Remove them with a skimmer and place in an ice bath. It is nice to use a fine mesh strainer in the ice bath so you can quickly remove the spaetzle without removing a bunch of ice too. Do not leave them in the ice bath for too long otherwise they will continue to absorb water. Place in a bowl for holding. Repeat this process until all of the spaetzle is cooked. You can store these in the fridge for a few hours before serving, if desired. If they start sticking together, you can toss them with a bit of oil, just as you would do with pasta.
In a large sauce pan, heat butter over medium heat until it browns. Pour the butter into a dish and add the herbs (I used sage and rosemary, but any one herb or combination would be great). Add the spaetzle to the pan and move it around by moving the pan, not using a spoon otherwise they may clump up. Depending on the size of your pan and your food tossing skills, you may want to do this in two batches. When the spaetzle is warm, about 3 minutes (if you did not store it in the fridge) add the herb and butter mixture and season with salt and pepper. Cook for another 2 minutes. Serve immediately.