Spaetzle — When Your Hands Need Something Harder Than Worry

August approaches. Clay comes home in October. The deployment is ending. The Army is rotating units and Clay's unit is in the rotation and in eight weeks — fifty-six days — my son will be on American soil and I will drive to wherever I need to drive and I will be there when he walks off the plane and I will bring soup beans in a thermos if they let me through security with a thermos of soup beans, which they probably won't, but I'm going to try.

I'm holding onto October the way I hold onto a railing on icy steps: with both hands, full grip, complete reliance. October is the destination. Everything between now and October is the journey, and the journey is work and soup and Mondays and phone calls from Clay that are short and flat and not-okay but alive and alive is the baseline that I've accepted as sufficient because the alternative is unacceptable.

This week I made something that required my full attention: homemade pasta. Not Appalachian. Not Betty's. Something entirely new. Because I needed a project. Because my hands needed to do something intricate and demanding that would occupy my brain for three hours and leave no room for Afghanistan or IEDs or the flat sound of my son's voice on the phone.

Two cups flour, three eggs, a pinch of salt, a tablespoon of olive oil. Mound the flour on the counter. Make a well. Crack the eggs in. Work the eggs into the flour with a fork, then your hands, kneading for ten minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Rest for thirty minutes. Roll thin — as thin as you can, using a rolling pin (I don't have a pasta machine, and Betty would say "You don't need a machine. You have arms."). Cut into fettuccine-width strips. Boil in salted water for two minutes. Toss with butter and Parmesan. Eat.

The pasta was good. Not great — my rolling was uneven and some noodles were thick and some were thin and the consistency was the consistency of a first attempt, which is imperfect and therefore honest. But the act of making it — the kneading, the rolling, the cutting, the three hours of focused labor — was what I needed. Three hours of not thinking about Clay. Three hours of flour on my hands instead of fear in my chest. Three hours of making something new because the old things carry too much weight this week.

The fettuccine I made that week taught me something: when your brain won’t settle, give your hands an argument they can’t refuse. Spaetzle is that argument — a handmade egg noodle that requires a bowl, a grater or colander, and the same kind of stubborn, focused attention that kept me from staring at my phone waiting for Clay to call. If you need a project that earns its keep, this is the one I keep coming back to.

Spaetzle

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Make the batter. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the milk until combined. Pour the egg mixture into the flour and stir vigorously until a thick, sticky batter forms with no dry streaks. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes.
2. Boil the water. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a rolling boil.
3. Press the spaetzle. Working in batches, press the batter through the large holes of a box grater, a spaetzle maker, or a colander held directly over the boiling water. The batter will drop into the water in short, irregular noodles.
4. Cook until done. Boil each batch for 2 to 3 minutes, until the spaetzle float to the surface and are cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a colander to drain. Repeat with remaining batter.
5. Butter and finish. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter until it begins to foam. Add the drained spaetzle in a single layer (work in batches if needed) and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the noodles are lightly golden at the edges. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Serve. Transfer to a warm bowl or platter and garnish with chopped parsley if desired. Serve immediately as a side dish or a simple main.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 360 | Protein: 13g | Fat: 12g | Carbs: 50g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 340mg