Milk/Cream

Mustard Spaetzle with Sauteed Spinach, Sweet Onions and Shitake Mushrooms

March 11, 2010
4
3 Ratings
  • Serves Four for an appetizer or two for a main course
Author Notes

I love the combination of spinach and mustard. I typically take this fresh, zingy pairing in the form of a salad with some meaty sautéed shitake mushrooms on top. But the first time I made this recipe combination it was wet and cold and dark outside and I just needed some stick-to-my-ribs food and spaetzle fits that bill to a tee. The tricky part of this recipe is pushing the spaetzle batter through a colander with big enough holes to yield the necessary sized squiggly bits in the boiling water below. I find that a colander with holes at least 1/4 inch in diameter. —cheese1227

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 3 eggs, slightly beaten
  • 4 ounces milk
  • 5 ounces Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Pinch white pepper
  • Pinch nutmeg
  • 10.5-11 ounces all-purpose flour
  • Olive oil
  • Butter
  • 1 medium sweet onion, medium dice
  • 4 ounces shitake mushroom, thinly sliced
  • 2 cups spinach, chopped slightly
Directions
  1. Whisk eggs, milk, mustard, salt, pepper and nutmeg in a medium sized bowl.
  2. Slowly stir the flour into the wet ingredients until the batter is smooth. The consistency should be halfway between that of pancake batter and pasta dough.
  3. Let the batter rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or as long as an hour.
  4. While the batter is resting, set a pot of salted water to boil. The pot you choose should be a bit smaller than your colander so that you can set the colander over the pan without it touching the water.
  5. Once the batter has rested and the water boiled, set your colander over the pan and pour the batter into the colander. Using a rubber spatula push the batter through the holes and into the water. This process will take a little elbow grease.
  6. The spaetzle will first sink to the bottom of the pan and then rise to the top. Once it has risen to the top, let it cook for another two minutes and then remove them with a skimmer and shock them in cold water and drain them well and set aside.
  7. Melt one tablespoon of butter in one tablespoon of olive oil. Sweat the onions for 3-4 minutes and then add the mushrooms and sauté them until slightly brown. Add the spinach and let it wilt slightly.
  8. Add the speatzle to the pan and stir completely. There should be enough fat in the pan to coat all spaetzle, so if there is not enough, add a bit more butter. Allow the speatzle to get a bit crispy in spots and be completely heated throughout.
  9. Serve immediately.
Contest Entries

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Kimbees54
    Kimbees54
  • bobzaguy
    bobzaguy
  • mrslarkin
    mrslarkin
  • cheese1227
    cheese1227
  • Lizthechef
    Lizthechef
I am an excellent eater (I have been all my life). I’m a pretty good cook (Ask my kids!). And my passable writing improves with alcohol (whether it's the writer or the reader that needs to drink varies by sentence.). I just published my first cookbook, Green Plate Special, which focuses on delicious recipes that help every day cooks eat more sustainably.

14 Reviews

Kitspy March 7, 2016
I was set on making spaetzle, but wanted to follow others' suggestions of just using a spaetzle maker, or at least a potato ricer. Believe it or not, I couldn't find either at the store (to be fair, the ricer was just sold out). So I ended up doing it my own very special, terrible way because my colander holes were too small. I used a flat perforated spatula and a spoon to push the batter through. It took forever. Basically I almost died from exhaustion and steam. I only saved myself from snacking on cake and pretzels while cooking.

But it tasted so good. I'd do it again. Though I will purchase a spaetzle maker.
 
cheese1227 March 7, 2016
Your post made me giggle. Thanks! Glad it worked out in the end for you.
 
Kimbees54 January 28, 2012
Agreed, a spaetzle maker is WAY easier. Pretty yummy.
 
jellewagen June 22, 2011
A spaetzle maker will make your life so much easier. You can get them at many stores for only $6.
 
KingKelsey June 9, 2011
good recipe, made this for my boyfriend and we both liked it. Though, i am not sure I would make it again, because it was really hard to make the actual spaetzle. Are there any other techniques to get the same effect?
 
bobzaguy July 7, 2010
cheese1227,
You were kind to me, being a first-time poster here, a few hours ago so I came here to see your contributions to the site.

I see you really were rushed to get the recipe posted and it seems you didn't have time to proof it. The mushroom is s h i i t a k e with 2 'i's in it.
 
cheese1227 July 7, 2010
Hmm, I think I posted this one before I figured out that it's much better to cut and paste into the Food52 input tool from a spell-checked word doc than to enter the text directly.
 
mrslarkin March 12, 2010
Oh, this sounds very delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
 
cheese1227 March 12, 2010
Thank you all for catching my very late night mistake!! I really, really appreciate you all having my back!! Of course there is flour in the recipe and it's in my notes but did not get transfered here. I added the recipe late last night as I did not expect to be on-line at all this weekend. I am just gald that I did indeed decide to get my Food52 fix today. I guess it was two kinds of fixes....

Just to break the suspense, I am a woman! Cheese is in the name because I love it.
 
Lizthechef March 12, 2010
Now I can sleep tonight. This is one terrific recipe. Thumbs up given before flour proportions noted and typos corrected. Good luck.
 
Lizthechef March 12, 2010
Who knows cheese1227? She's got a winner here but it needs some fixing and the clock is ticking. Someone call her up - or him, perhaps, how sexist of me...
 
lastnightsdinner March 12, 2010
Oh, I love this!
 
Lizthechef March 12, 2010
Yes, please add the flour because I have been looking for a spaetzle recipe to go with my Hungarian goulash and like the sound of yours very much!
 
gluttonforlife March 12, 2010
I think you left the flour off your ingredients list--hopefully there's still time to edit!