Schwäbische Spätzle

Schwäbische Spätzle are the soft, irregular, egg-rich noodles of southwestern Germany, and the everyday pasta of the Swabian table. The dough is a loose batter of wheat flour, eggs, salt and a small splash of milk or sparkling water, scraped through the holes of a Spätzle board (a long flat grater) or pressed through a colander or a Spätzle press directly into a wide pot of boiling salted water. The dumplings puff, slip off the spoon, and rise to the surface in less than a minute, after which they are scooped out, drained, and layered with butter. The classic Sunday plate is Käsespätzle — the dumplings folded with grated Emmentaler or Bergkäse and crisp fried onions. A second classic, served as a side to Gaisburger Marsch or a beef roast, is Spätzle with browned butter and a light dusting of parsley. Schwäbische Spätzle are PGI-protected in the European Union as a Swabian speciality, with Stuttgart, Ulm, Augsburg and the villages of the Schwäbische Alb all laying claim to the canonical version. Soft, chewy, slightly eggy, and utterly unlike any Italian pasta, they are the carbohydrate backbone of an entire region\u0027s cooking.