Green Spätzle

Green Spätzle

Duration: 30 min + 30 min rest

Difficulty: Medium

Region: Trentino-Alto Adige

Green Spätzle are a typical Tyrolean recipe. The term spatzle means “little sparrow” and it is with this term that small dumplings made of flour and other typical ingredients of the gastronomic tradition of South Tyrol are called. In particular, there is a version of spatzle that has also been successful in the rest of Italy and can often be found in our supermarkets: the green Spätzle, made up of a mixture of flour and spinach.

Ingredients

For 4 people.

You can buy ready-made green Spätzle,

• 600 g of green Spätzle

Or prepare them yourself at home

• 300 g of Spinach
• 200 g of flour
• 3 eggs
• ½ glass of milk
• Nutmeg
• salt

Per il condimento

• Grated Trentino Grana
• 1 thick slice of Speck
• 4 Sage leaves
• 1 knob of Butter
• salt

Necessary equipment

To obtain green Spätzle it is necessary to have the appropriate grater.

How to Proceed

If you have already bought the green Spätzle, skip the preparation part:

Take the spinach, wash it well and remove any soil and roots. Once well washed, put them in a saucepan in which you have boiled salted water. Give them a quick blanch for about 5 minutes and then drain them, cool them and finally chop them finely until you get almost a mush.

Take a bowl and break three whole eggs into it and start beating with a whisk until you get a frothy mixture. Then gradually incorporate the flour by sifting it, keep mixing so as not to form lumps. Gradually add half a glass of milk in order to keep the consistency of the dough very soft. Add salt and continue mixing. Finally, add the chopped spinach and a good grating of nutmeg, mix again until you obtain a homogenous mixture.

Leave the dough in the bowl to rest for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Place the special grater for Spätzle on top of it and pass the dough through the grater so as to form the Spätzle which will fall directly into the water. Or open the package of ready-made Spätzle and pour it into previously salted boiling water.

Separately, prepare a pan with a little butter, the sage leaves and (optional) some cubes or strips of speck. Let the butter melt and flavor it by browning the sage and ham.

The green Spätzle will float as soon as they are cooked. Remove them from the cooking liquid with a slotted spoon and collect them in a tray or glass salad bowl. Season them with melted butter flavored with sage and cooked ham (optional) and finally sprinkle them with plenty of Grana Padano cheese.

Serve the spatzli piping hot.