Ever since our first trip to Switzerland, we’ve made Spätzli (in various forms) a regular feature in our dinner rotation. It’s probably the simplest homemade pasta you can imagine, and it is delicious and versatile. For this particular meal, we decided to tinker with our basic recipe and turn our Spätzli beet red! It added a nice hint of beety flavour and more than a hint of colour to our dish.
We used this as a base for our Schweinwurst Spätzlipfanne, but it would also go well a nice Schnitzel. It would also be a nice base to build a vegetarian meal by sauteeing it with Swiss Chard, Mushrooms, and Onions…or as the macaroni component for a goat cheese macaroni and cheese (perhaps with a some sliced mint leaves).
Time: 30 Minutes (Plus Beet Boiling Time if using Raw)
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup of All Purpose Flour
- 1 Egg
- 1/2 Cup of Pureed Beets
- A Pinch of Salt
Method:
- If using fresh beets, rinse, and boil until soft. Then set aside to cool, peel the skin, and puree in your Ninja/Blender.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil.
- Put your flour, egg, salt, and beet puree in a bowl, and stir to fully combine. You want it to be pretty goopy…not runny, but not hard…so add additional water/flour as necessary so you get the right consistency to be able to “press” through a colander.
- Scoop your beet mixture into your colander, and use spatula to press it through into your boiling water.
- Allow to cook for 3-4 minutes, until your Spätzli all float to the top and become firm.
- Drain your water (we just scooped ours out with a frying skimmer).
- Melt some butter in a pan, and finish your Spätzli by giving it a quick sautee. (We sauteed ours with mushrooms)
- Plate, devour, and enjoy!
