Saarland flour spaetzle with croutons and apple sauce

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 500 g flour, sifted
• 4 eggs
• 250 ml milk
• 4 rolls or a few slices of toast, can be stale
• 200 g margarine or oil for baking the croutons
• 1 jar applesauce, bought or homemade approx. 500 ml / gram
• 1 pinch(s) nutmeg, to taste
• n. B. Salt
• 1 cup of cream, approx. 200 g
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp butter

Instructions

Working time approx. 15 minutes; Rest time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 15 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour

A delicious and affordable meal that not only children love

Mix eggs, milk, and flour, along with a good teaspoon of salt, a pinch of nutmeg, and the baking powder, until you have a dough that’s difficult to pull off a spoon. This is best done using the dough hook on a hand mixer or a food processor. You can adjust the consistency by adding a little more milk or flour. Let it rest for about 30 minutes or longer, then stir again with a spoon. Put a large pot of well-salted water on the stovetop and bring it to a boil. During this time, cut the rolls or white bread into cubes. When the water boils, use two spoons to scoop out dumplings and add them to the water. This is easiest if you slide the dough off the spoon while it’s still in the water. Don’t make the dumplings too big, a little smaller than walnuts. I only add half the dough at a time. When the dumplings float to the top, wait a few minutes, then scoop them out with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a bowl. Repeat with the second half of the dough and then keep it warm in the oven at 50°C. Melt a teaspoon of butter on top so they don’t dry out. Heat the margarine in a large, deep-sided frying pan and fry the bread cubes until nice and brown. Add a bit of salt. They can have a few dark spots; it tastes great. Place the bread cubes on top of the flour spaetzle and add the cream to the same pan. Toss it around once so it warms up slightly and then pour it over the spaetzle. Serve these spaetzle with cold apple sauce from the fridge. This combination of hot and cold, sweet and salty makes this dish so addictive. If you have any leftovers, you can easily keep them refrigerated and then heat them up in the microwave. This is a recipe from a friend from Saarland who had to cook it for us again and again until I tried it myself.