Sweet Corn Spaetzle: Soft, Sweet & Comforting

Spaetzle is soft, Bavarian-style egg noodles that are typically served with other German fares in an Oktoberfest spread. In this dish, Spaetzle is taken to the Midwest by pairing it with sweet corn. The noodles are sauted with succulent roasted sweet corn, but the true magic of this recipe is in the sauce.

Ingredients

Directions

Corn Sauce

• Cut all the kernels off the ears of corn. Save the cobs reserve 4 ears worth of kernels for the sauce and 2 ears worth for the Spaetzle.
• Cover the corn cobs, onion and garlic with water in a large pot. Bring to a boil.
• Reduce to a simmer, cook for two hours to create a corn stock.
• Strain the solids out of the stock, reserve the liquid for sauce.
• Add the kernels from 4 ears of corn to a pot with the corn stock. Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the corn is soft.
• Use a slotted spoon to remove the corn and place into a blender. Reserve the cooking liquid.
• Blend the corn with the cream until you have a smooth, pliable puree. If needed, add a little of the stock to smooth it out. Save any leftover stock for future use.
• Strain the puree through a fine-mesh colander to remove any chunks. Add the butter and season to taste with salt. Keep warm and set aside to serve with Spaetzle.

While you are waiting for the corn stock to cook, you can complete steps 1-5 for the Spaetzle.

Spaetzle

• Mix together the flour, eggs, milk and salt in a large bowl with a rubber spatula. Mix until it's smooth, the dough should be a little sticky but also a little runny, somewhere between bread dough and pancake batter. Allow to rest for 15-20 minutes.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Prepare a large bowl of ice water.
• Take a colander with the biggest holes you can find and lightly grease it. Working in batches, take the dough and push it with a spoon through the holes of the colander directly into the boiling water (or use
• a Spaetzle cutter if you have one on hand).
• Boil the batches of Spaetzle for 2-3 minutes or until they float. Use a slotted spoon to remove them and put them into the ice water. Repeat until all the Spaetzle is cooked.
• Remove Spaetzle from the ice water and toss with a little vegetable oil to prevent sticking.
• Heat the oil over high heat in a large pan. Add the remaining corn, cook for 3-4 minutes or until dark brown, remove from pan.
• Add butter then the Spaetzle to the pan, cook for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown.
• Return roasted corn to the pan, add the parsley and season to taste. Serve hot with the corn puree underneath.