I have been fascinated by spaetzle since my mom made with with a nifty device perched on a pot of boiling water. If you have never had spaetzle, you are living a life of deprivation. They are what I might consider a perfect food. Tender, noodly, carby goodness. And they go with everything. You can eat them with cheese (Kasespaetzle). You can eat them with schnitzle. You can eat them with a brat. Or, you can eat them all alone, pan fried with some herbs and salt.
Today, as this is a meatless Monday post, I am eating my spaetzle with lentils. Red lentils to be exact. Most of the recipes I saw on the internet called for brown lentils – but I think brown lentils are ugly. And, in my kitchen are red lentils. This dinner includes the use of one of the few processed foods that I keep around – bouillon. You can use bouillon cubes or stock, but your water needs to be seasoned, or the lentils will taste flat.
| Spaetzle with Linsen |
|
- 1 cup gluten free flour blend
- 1/2 teaspoon xantham gum (if not in your mix)
- 3 eggs
- 1/8 cup milk
- 1 cup red lentils
- 2 cups stock or water and a bouillon cube
- 1 tablespoon sage
- 2 shallots
- 4 tablespoons butter
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Whisk flour and xantham gum together.
- Make a well in the flour and crack eggs into it.
- Pour in milk and mix.
- Cover and put in the fridge for an hour or overnight.
- When it is time to cook, cook the lentils in the stock as directed on the package. It should be thick, but still liquid. The lentils should have started to break down but should not be completely disintegrated.
- Now, if you don’t have a spaetzle maker use a colander and a spatula to push the batter through the holes into a pot of boiling water. Boil the dumplings in batches.
- Once the spaetzle is cooked, fry the sage and shallots in the butter.
- Remove the sage and shallots from the frying pan and drain the butter.
- Sautee the spaetzle in the greased frying pan.
- Top with cooked lentils, a drizzle of the browned butter and fried sage and crispy shallots.
This actually made 3 servings for me, but I eat small, measured portions.