Spätzle are a German soft pasta (also sometimes referred to as dumplings). It literally means “little sparrow” in Swabian German, and are common in Swabia, Bavaria, Switzerland, Austria and Hungary. You often eat them as the pasta with Goulash, Roasts, Rouladen (anything with a gravy) and as Käsespätzle (a type of Mac-and-Cheese). Note that while some people have the magic touch of rapidly scraping the dough/batter off a wooden chopping board into boiling water (my grandparents were masters at this), I use a “Spätzlepresse”, which looks like a complex potato-ricer. Other Spätzle-making-gadgets include pushing the dough/batter through a strainer or using a food mill or coarse grater (“Spätzlehobel”), which typically produce smaller Spätzle often referre as “Knöpfle” (little buttons; more commonly found in Bavaria and Austria). I make Spätzle in large batches and freeze them.
Here are a couple of photos of the hardware you will need: The Spätzlepresse, a large bowl for the dough/batter, a medium bowl for cold water to shock the spatzle, a large pot of water, a spider, a wooden or spoon, a scraper and a sheet pan.
