Home | Foraging | Stinging Nettle Spaetzle
5 from 1 vote
By Hank Shaw
March 17, 2011 | Updated June 06, 2022
Jump to Recipe
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Ever since I bought myself a spaetzle makera few months ago, I have been busily at work making oddly flavored spaetzles, from pumpkin spaetzle to acorn spaetzle. Now, to celebrate the coming of spring, here’s my most vivid dumpling yet: Stinging nettle spaetzle.
My friend Josh, Holly and I went out to Isleton the other day to pick our annual batch of nettles. I have a whole raft of nettle recipes on this site, and use the vibrant green pretty consistently from February through March. You need to collect nettles when they are still young, otherwise they get too fibrous. For more detailed info, I wrote a primer on collecting nettles a while back.
Spaetzle, for those who don’t know, are little dumplings native to the Alpine region between Italy and Austria, although they appear all over Northern Europe. Spaetzle are made with flour, eggs and often milk. Nutmeg is a common ingredient, as are supplemental flavors. Thus the nettles.
Nettle spaetzle are a shocking, lurid green. Greener than green. Their taste is pretty mild, although you can definitely taste the slight brininess of the nettle.
I like to serve these with brown butter, or with mushrooms. I madethese spaetzlefor a very special dish thatI plan on writing about in a few days. Stay tuned.
5 from 1 vote
Stinging Nettle Spaetzle
If you don't have nettles, these spaetzle are equally good with blanched spinach, parsley, or oregano. Something green, tender and flavorful.
Save RecipePin RecipePrint Recipe
Course: Pasta
Cuisine: German
Servings: 6 people
Author: Hank Shaw
Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes minutes
Ingredients
- 1 cup blanched stinging nettles
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 3 cups 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
To blanch nettles, boil a large pot of salty water (it should taste like the ocean) and toss 3-5 tong-fulls of freshly washed nettles into it. I say tong-fulls because you will be stung by the nettles if you grab them. Boil the nettles for 2-5 minutes; dwarf nettles need only 2 minutes, regular nettles need 4-5 minutes. Remove the nettles from the boiling water and dunk them into a bowl of ice water to cool. Let them sit there for a minute or so, then wring out as much moisture as you can from them. Now they are ready to use.
Bring another large pot of salty water to a boil -- or, if your nettles were nice and clean when you blanched them, you can use the same water, although it will turn brown because the chlorophyll leached from the nettles will overcook. I change the water.
Put 1 cup of blanched nettles into a blender with the cup of milk and buzz to combine. Pour this into a bowl and whisk in the eggs.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then mix in the wet ingredients. You will get a sticky batter.
Put this batter into your spaetzle maker and run it over the boiling water. Allow the dumplings to boil for 1-2 minutes on the surface. You can eat them now, or you can save them for later by shocking the spaetzle in a bowl of ice water and then laying them out on a sheet pan to dry a bit. Coat with a little oil to keep them from sticking together.
If you do not have a spaetzle maker, you can use a colander with wide holes, or you can put the batter on a cutting board and flick little pieces off with a knife; this is a country-style spaetzle.
Serve your spaetzle with brown butter, a cream sauce, with mushrooms, or really with anything you'd like. Once shocked in cold water and coated with oil, spaetzle will last in the fridge for several days.
Nutrition
Calories: 280kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 59mg | Sodium: 815mg | Potassium: 191mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 445IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 136mg | Iron: 3mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tried this recipe? Tag me today!Mention @huntgathercook or tag #hankshaw!
Categorized as:
Foraging, German, Recipe
You May Also Like
Mushrooms
Garlic Roasted Mushrooms
This is a simple garlic roasted mushroom recipe that works with any meaty mushroom, from porcini to shiitake to regular button mushrooms.
French
French Garlic Chicken
Classic French 40 clove garlic chicken, made with pheasant. This recipe features thighs, and works with chicken, pheasant, rabbit or partridge.
American Recipes
Corned Beef Casserole
Corned beef or venison casserole is a great use for leftovers. Add noodles, cabbage, peas, cheese and breadcrumbs and it’s a winner.
Mexican
Chacales
Chacales are roasted, dried and cracked corn typically cooked in soups. Also called chichales or chuales, it makes a great meatless soup for Lent.
