Pumpkin Spaetzle with a Meat Ragu

Admittedly this did not start off as a dish of Spaetzle. I had a bit of roasted pumpkin on my hand and wanted to make them into gnocchi. This is doable, but the pumpkin (or butternut squash) really should be dried as much as possible after roasting so that when you are ready to make gnocchi you do not add a boat load of flour, turn them gummy and lose all of the delicate pumpkin flavor. I will try nailing the gnocchi at some point again. 

Impatient? Skip to the recipe.

Once I noticed that the mixture of roasted pumpkin, eggs and some flour was too loose, I shifted gears, pulled out my Spaetzle maker and made some fantastic little dumplings. What started off as a way to salvage the ingredients ended up being a very tasty dish. I will sure do this again too. It’s easy, delicious and looks wonderful. 

If you do not have a Spaetzle maker you can easily use a colander with some large holes or a flat cheese grater maybe. Anything that you can put over a simmering pot of water  and push the batter through. Once the dumplings float they are cooked. 

Drain them very well and place them in a large bowl of ice water to cool. Drain again and before serving toss them in a hot pan with butter or oil to brown them a bit. They are very good with a few leaves of sage if you have them.

The Spaetzle can also be made a few days ahead of time. After draining, let them cool a bit and toss them in some neutral oil. Then you can keep them in the fridge until ready to serve. Do they freeze well? My guess, no, but I really have not tried. Maybe I’ll try that with the next batch.

I already had in mind a simple meat sauce to go with the gnocchi, so I stuck with that for my dinner. You do not have to though. These Spaetzle would work great as an accompaniment to a stew, roast chicken, pork cutlets…

For this simple ragu I used a combination of homemade venison sausage and ground beef. Any ground meat would work for the protein and the sauce comes together pretty quickly

Just sauté some carrots, onions and celery plus a little garlic (I did not use garlic in my version here because the sausage had a bit in there) in oil and butter, cook the meat in there, add some herbs, wine and cream (or milk). Let it simmer for 30 minutes, adjust the seasoning and use it with any pasta you like.

Pumpkin Spaetzle with a Simple Meat Ragu

Easy and very tasty little German-inspired dumplings. These can be served simply buttered as a side to many dishes. Here I toss them with a simple meat and herb ragu.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Servings: 4 people

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: American, German, Italian

Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients

  

Pumpkin Spaetzle

• 460 gr Roasted pumpkin puree
• 1 Egg yolk
• 140 gr Flour, all-purpose about 1 Cup
• 1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 Tbsp Neutral oil (Canola or vegetable) for tossing the cooked spaetzle

Simple Meat and Herb Ragu

• 3 Tbsp Olive oil
• 1 Tbsp Butter
• 1/2 Onion Chopped small, about 3/4 Cup
• 1 Celery stick Chopped small
• 1 Carrot Chopped small
• 3 Garlic cloves Chopped small
• 400 gr Ground meat Beef, Pork, Veal, Sausage or a mixture
• 1 Small chunk Parmesan rind if you have it, optional
• 4-5 Thyme sprigs
• 1-2 Rosemary sprigs
• 1/2 Cup Cream or Whole milk
• 1/2 Cup White wine, dry

Equipment

• 1 Spaetzle Maker optional

Method

 

Spaetzle

1. Mix all the ingredients, except the neutral oil, together very well. You will have a sticky batter that will hold together.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season generously with salt. Have a large bowl of ice water ready next to it.
3. If you have a spaetzle maker, use that to drop small dumplings of the batter directly in the water. They are cooked in a couple minutes when they float. Alternatively a colander with large holes can be used. Plop the batter in the colander and use a spatula to push the batter through the holes into the water as you move the colander back and forth.
4. Drain the spaetzle and put them in the bowl of ice water for a few minutes to chill and set.
5. Drain the spaetzle very well again and toss them in a couple of tablespoons of neutral oil. If you are not using right away, spread them on a baking sheet to cool completely then transfer to a bowl or sealed bag (like Ziploc) and store in the fridge. They will be fine for several days.
6. To serve as a side, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil or butter or both and sauté the cooked dumplings. For best flavor let them brown a bit. Sprinkle with more parmesan and crispy sage leaves if desired. Alternatively, toss them with a sauce like the ragu here for a satisfying one bowl meal.

Ragu

1. Heat the butter and oil in a 12 inch pan with high sides. This is ideal so that you can toss the cooked spaetzle in there and have everything in one pan. You can instead, if you prefer, make the meat sauce in a sauce pan and just toss everything later in a bowl. Add the vegetables and a good pinch of salt and sauté gently for 5 minutes or so to soften.
2. Add the meat and cook, stirring and breaking it apart for a few more minutes. You do not want to brown the meat, just cook it until it is no longer pink and raw looking.
3. Add the herbs, just leave them on their branches, you can pick them out later. Add the parmesan rind if you are using it and cook everything for a couple minutes. Now pour in the cream (or milk) and the white wine. Add another pinch of salt, bring to a simmer and reduce the heat.
4. Partially cover the pan and cook the ragu gently for 30 to 45 minutes. Fish out the herb "branches" all leaves should be pretty much gone in the sauce now. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. If you have extra fresh thyme leaves or chopped rosemary you can add those too, to your taste.
5. Toss in the cooked (and ideally sauteed) spaetzle, and serve in bowls topped with plenty of Parmesan cheese.