Recipe for spätzle with beef
Spätzle is a German/Austrian specialty often served as a side dish to hearty meat dishes with sauce.
This spätzle recipe is an old family classic that has been passed down through generations. It is absolutely worth trying, and not just for nostalgic reasons. The dish is just as delicious as when it was first created, and it remains an easy and affordable side dish.
Here we provide you with both the spätzle recipe and a recipe for a delicious beef and beer stew.
This is winter food at its best!
Equipment
- Spätzle iron (Option 1)
- Garlic Press (Option 2)
Ingredients
- 500 gram Shoulder Knuckle or lump
- 100 gram Bacon can be omitted
- 3 pcs. Carrots
- 2 pcs. Onion
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 0.25 pcs. Celery
- 4 pcs. Bay Leaf
- 30 gram Tomato Puree or 1 small can
- 7 gram Sweet paprika
- 500 gram Beer
- 100 gram Cream
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Lemon Juice
- Sugar
- Spices salt and pepper
- Butter for frying
- Oil for frying
- 500 gram Wheat Flour
- 18 gram Salt
- 100 gram Water
- 5 pcs. Egg possibly 6 - depends on how wet the dough is.
- 4 l Water for boiling
- 36 gram Salt for the cooking water
Instructions
Beef Stew with Beer:
- Remove any tendons and large pieces of fat from the meat.
- Cut the meat into large cubes.
- Cut the bacon into small cubes.
- Dice onions, garlic, carrots, and celery root.
- Heat a casserole (or another heavy-bottomed pot) and fry the bacon cubes until they are lightly golden and have released a good amount of fat.
- Add the vegetables and let them cook until they soften a bit.
- Add tomato paste and let it cook briefly.
- Add paprika and bay leaves.
- Heat a frying pan/sauté pan with oil.
- Drop a pat of butter into the oil and brown the meat on high heat until it is seared all over. The meat only needs to be seared on the pan and does not need to be cooked through as it will continue cooking in the pot.
- Add the meat to the bacon and vegetables and pour in beer and possibly a bit of water (the liquid should cover about 3/4 of the pot's contents).
- Let the dish simmer over low heat for about 1 1/2-2 hours until the meat is completely tender.
- Add cream and season to taste with salt, pepper, sugar, apple cider vinegar, and a bit of lemon juice.
- Heat through and serve with mashed potatoes, rice, or the South German specialty spätzle.
Spätzle:
- Mix flour and salt in a large bowl.
- Add water and eggs and stir the dough together. The amount of eggs you need depends on how wet the dough is, so start with 4 eggs and add more if necessary until the dough has the consistency of a thick and smooth mixture.
- Bring a large pot of water with salt to a boil.
- The dough now needs to be "shaped" into spätzle, which you can do in two ways:
- 1. Press the dough through a spätzle maker, which is a tool that looks like a very large garlic press. Hold the tool over the pot with boiling water while you press the dough through it.
- 2. Spread the spätzle dough thinly on a cutting board. Hold the cutting board at an angle over the pot with boiling water. Cut the dough into strips that drop into the water as you cut them.
- Spätzle are fully cooked when they rise to the surface.
- Place the finished spätzle in a warmed dish as they are cooked.
Serving:
- Serve the beef stew with the cooked spätzle as a side dish.
