Austrian Meatballs Spaetzle Recipes

GERMAN MEATBALLS AND SPAETZLE

Steps:

• Begin with the German meatballs: Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and shape into about 24 (1 1/2-inch round) meatballs. Brown the meatballs in a large skillet over medium heat, making sure to drain well as you cook the meaty mixture. Add beef broth, mushrooms, and onion. Simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes.
• In a small mixing bowl, blend sour cream, flour, and caraway seed. Add to the simmering broth and meatballs.
• Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened.
• Meanwhile, prepare the spaetzle by sifting together the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs and milk and beat well. Place in a coarse-sieved colander and sieve (pushing the batter through the holes of the colander) directly over a rapidly boiling pot of lightly salted water. Cook for about 5 minutes, drain.
• Sprinkle spaetzle with a mixture of fine breadcrumbs, garlic powder and melted butter.
• Place a large portion of the spaetzle on a serving platter and hollow out a well in the center. Spoon meatballs and sauce in the center of the spaetzle and serve warm.

MEATBALLS WITH SPAETZLE

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Crumble beef over the mixture and mix well. Shape into 1-1/2-in. balls. , In a skillet, brown meatballs; drain. Add broth, mushrooms and onion. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Combine the flour, caraway seeds and sour cream until smooth; stir into meatball mixture. Cook over low heat until heated through and thickened, about 10 minutes. , Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine the flour, salt, eggs and milk. Let stand for 5 minutes. In a large saucepan, bring water or broth to a rapid boil. Place spaetzle batter in a colander or spaetzle press. Holding over the boiling liquid, press batter through holds of colander. Cook and stir for 5 minutes or until tender; drain. Serve meatballs and sauce over spaetzle.

AUSTRALIAN MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Mix together the ground beef, bread crumbs, 2 onions, curry powder, Italian seasoning, egg, garlic, salt and pepper. Gradually mix in the milk; you might not need all of it--just enough for a good meatball-making texture. Make meatballs that are about 1.5 inches in diameter. In a greased baking dish, bake them for 30 minutes at 375.
• Make the sauce while the meatballs are baking. Melt the margarine in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the remaining onions, and cook until browned. Stir in the ketchup, beef stock, steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, instant coffee, brown sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the meatballs are done.
• Remove the meatballs from the oven, and drain any excess grease. Pour the sauce over them, and return to the oven. Bake for an additional 30 minutes.
• The original author says that they taste better if they've been made a little in advance, allowed to cool, and then reheated at 200 degrees for about 15 minutes.

SIMPLE SPAETZLE

Steps:

• Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil.
• Reduce heat and maintain water to a simmer.
• In medium bowl, combine all the ingredients into a batter.
• Place a colander over the pan of water. Pour about ¼ of the batter in the colander and press through the holes into the water with a spatula.
• When dumplings begin to float, cover pan and simmer about 5 minutes until they appear to swell and are fluffy.
• Remove dumplings and repeat with remaining batter.
• Tips.
• They freeze very well.

AUSTRIAN KAESESPAETZLE (CHEESE SPAETZLE)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. and place a smaller casserole dish (approximately 11 X 7) in the oven to warm before adding the spaetzle. Place a large pot on the stove and add 2 quarts salted water. Bring to a boil. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, add the flour eggs, milk and 2 pinches salt and stir vigorously until thoroughly incorporated. The dough should be runny but stable. Set aside and let dough rest.
• Grate cheeses and mix them together. Set aside.
• Pour the olive oil in a large pan and heat. Add the sliced onion, 2 pinches salt and the freshly ground pepper. Cook until the onions are nicely browned and soft. Set aside.
• Place the spaetzle maker or colander over the boiling pot of salted water. Pour in about 1/3 of the dough and move the speatzle maker back and forth, or push the dough through the colander with a spreader. Stir the spaetzle regularly to prevent sticking. Simmer gently until the spaetzle floats on the top of the water. It's done at this point. Remove with a medium size handled sieve, let the water drain out and place into the pre-heated casserole dish. Sprinkle 1/3 of the cheese and the onions on top of the spaetzle and repeat this step two more times until there are three layers of spaetzle, onions and cheese in the casserole dish. Sprinkle the parsley on top and let rest for 15 minutes until the cheese has melted.
• Serve with a green salad and a cold beer.

AUSTRIAN MEATBALLS & SPAETZLE

Steps:

• Heat a large pot of lightly salted water to boiling. Add spaetzle and cook 25 minutes, following package directions. Meanwhile, combine 1 cup of the mushrooms, the shallots and garlic in a food processor or mini chopper. Pulse to finely chop. Transfer to a large bowl and add ground beef and pork, bread crumbs, egg, dried sage, salt and pepper. Mix just until combined. Shape into 32 meatballs, using 2 tablespoons mixture for each. Heat oil in large, lidded nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add meatballs to skillet; it will be a tight fit. Brown meatballs, turning occasionally. Slice remaining mushrooms and add to skillet with all but 1/4 cup of the beef broth. Cover skillet; reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 15 minutes. Mix flour into reserved broth. With a slotted spoon, remove meatballs from skillet. Stir flour mixture into skillet. Simmer 3 minutes, until thickened. Drain spaetzle. Transfer to a platter. Stir meatballs back into sauce in skillet, then spoon over spaetzle and serve.

GERMAN MEATBALLS WITH SPAETZLE

Steps:

• Cook spaetzle according to package directions. Drain.
• Meanwhile, in a saucepan combine the meatballs, broth, mushroom pieces, and chopped onion. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, 15 to 20 minutes.
• In a small bowl, combine, stirring well, the sour cream, flour, and caraway seeds. Stir into meatballs mixture. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook one minute longer.
• Spoon meatballs over the spaetzle and garnish with chopped parsley.