Saturday, July 9, 2011

Spätzle with avocado and feta

Breakfast: The classic home-made granola with yogurt

Lunch: Spätzle with avocado and feta, along with a mushroom, rocket and red pepper salad

Dinner: Lentil chili


Having spent a few gorgeous days traversing the unspeakably beautiful Czech areas of East and North Bohemia, Claire, Zoe and I found ourselves in Pilsner, home of the famous beer. We'd spent much of the day driving in every single wrong way possible, so I was more than ready to sample some of the local beverages, but I knew, with my non-tolerance to anything served in pint form, that we'd need some decent food first.

As one of only 2 vegetarian things on the menu at our chosen eatery, these were an obvious choice - and they turned out to be delicious. They're technically a form of egg noodle, but are much more like egg gnocchi, or perogies without the filling. The Germans / Hungarians have them with meat dishes or with a sauce / roasted veggies, but as this was brunch and it was hot I threw some freshness in instead.

If you don't have a "spätzle hex" to make these the restaurant way (and who does these days?) you can make them the surprisingly simple old school way as outlined below. It can all be done in under 15 minutes.

You'll need:
(feeds 2 with a side)
125g plain / all-purpose flour
100ml milk
1 egg
a pinch of salt
a little oil for the spoon
2 tbsp of feta
1 avocado
black pepper

Method:
Stir together the flour and the salt
In a different bowl, mix together the milk and egg, then combine everything
Heat a large pan full of water until it's boiling
Take a teaspoon, dip it in some oil (to stop the mixture sticking to the spoon) and get about 1/4 of a teaspoon of the mixture on the spoon
Drop the mixture from the spoon into the boiling water
Repeat until the bowl is full or the mixture is done
Make sure the spätzle aren't stuck to the bottom; when they float to the top, after about 3 minutes, they're done!
Use a slotted spoon to remove them and put them into a dry bowl
Cube the avocado and add it to the spätzle, and crumble feta on top
Add some black pepper and serve

These are a nice alternative to eggs for brunch, can be served with grated cheese and fried onions and would go beautifully with a veggie stew. You can also have them sweet with apples or any other fruit, but I have yet to try this!

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