Lemon spaetzle with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

Today I’m sharing one of my favorite German foods – Lemon Spaetzle with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto! Spaetzle is a small German dumpling that taste similar egg noodles and requires no special pasta making equipment!

As I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, I never felt too connected to my German heritage growing up when it came to food because so much of it was meat, meat, and more meat. When we’d go to a German restaurant on special occasions, I’d usually end up with a big bowl of spaetzle (that was usually labeled as a side) for my main. If anyone not familiar, spaetzle is an egg-y dumpling noodle that usually is tossed with oil or butter and cheese (doesn’t sound so bad, am I right?).

I wanted to give the spaeztle a fun twist in this recipe by tossing it with an easy sun dried tomato pesto and brightened it up a bit with lots and lots of lemon. Also, what I love about this lemon spaeztle is that I find it to be one of the easiest homemade noodles to make since you don’t have to use any special equipment if you don’t want. My favorite technique for making the dumplings is to scrap a small piece of dough onto the inside of a spoon and then use another spoon to scrap it off that spoon and into the water – this yield slightly oval but free form pieces that boil up quickly.

The sun dried tomato pesto gives a punch of umami and robust flavor to this dish while the fresh herbs and lemon-y dumplings brighten it all up to create what otherwise would feel like a heavy entree. I love finishing it off with some salty hard cheese (such a Parmesan or Manchego) and a few turns of freshly ground black pepper. Simple? Yes. Delicious? Most definitely.

4.5 from 2 votes

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Lemon Spaetzle with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

Today I’m sharing one of my favorite German foods – Lemon Spaetzle with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto! Spaetzle is a small German dumpling that taste similar egg noodles and requires no special pasta making equipment!

Ingredients

• 1 batch Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• zest from 1 lemon + 1 Tbsp lemon juice divided
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1 Tbsp butter or olive oil
• 1/4 cup shaved vegetarian Parmesan
• 2 Tbsp fresh herbs (such as basil, dill, or parsley) for garnish

Instructions

1. Make the Sun Dried Tomato Pesto according to my directions here and set aside.

2. Bring a large stock pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.

3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, lemon zest, and pepper until combined. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the eggs and milk. Whisk just the milk and eggs together until the eggs are scrambled. Then whisk the dry ingredients into the wet until a smooth batter has formed.

4. Once your water is boiling, use two spoons to form the spaetzle and drop it into the water. To do this, scrape 1/2-1 tsp of batter onto one of the spoons and then use the other spoon to push the sticky batter off the spoon and into the water. Repeat with as much batter as you can within 30 seconds. Let that batch boil for 3 to 5 and then use a spotted spoon to transfer to a bowl. Repeat with the rest of the batter until it's all cooked. Drizzle lemon juice over the spaeztle and toss.

5. Melt the butter or olive oil in a large skillet over medium. Add the cooked spaetzle and let cook in the oil for about one minute. Add half of the pesto and mix just until the spaetzle is completely covered. Taste and add more pesto until you reach your desired flavor (I like to use less sauce but that's just my personal preference). Remove from heat and transfer to a wide serving bowl. Top with cheese and fresh herbs and serve right away.

Make sure to tag Vegetarian ‘Ventures on Instagram and use #vegetarianventures when trying this dish out!