I recently acquired a pasta rolling pin which, when glided over the surface of a sheet of pasta dough, was supposed to leave rows of perfectly cut linguine noodles behind. This did not happen and I was too frustrated to roll the dough out a second time and try again. Instead, I cut the dough into rough spätzle like pieces, complete with tire tracks from the attempt with the pasta rolling pin.
This was an ugly, misshapen attempt at pasta making, but actually easy to put together and flavor-wise well worth the attempt. The spätzle (for lack of another word for these) truly were delicious and I was thrilled to see that my dough, which I had imagined bright yellow from the saffron and turmeric, turned a lovely golden color as it cooked. I am not sure I could have stood a double disappointment so this was gratifying.
3 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour + 1/2 cup when preparing the noodles
3/4 tsp salt
4 large eggs
1/4 water
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 tsp saffron threads
1 tsp turmeric powder
Cover the saffron threads with 1 tablespoon of boiling water. Let sit for 5 minutes until water is a deep saffron orange and then top up with cold water to make up the 1/4 cup amount listed in the recipe.
Place the flour, salt, turmeric, eggs, oil and 2 tablespoons of the water in a stand mixer and process on low until the ingredients come together into a cohesive ball and no longer stick to the side of the bowl. Add more water, in increments of one tablespoon if this does not happen within a minute or so. I personally had to use the entire 1/4 cup of saffron water before my ingredients coalesced into something resembling pasta dough. If you don't have a stand mixer, you can mix all of these ingredients together in a large bowl, start mixing with a fork and then go at it with your hand until it comes together.
Place the ball of dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for a few minutes until the dough is shiny and smooth. Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest on the counter for 30 minutes to an hour.
Flour your counter or a large board lightly, flour your rolling pin and flour both sides of your ball of dough, which you have previously flattened with the palm of your hand.
Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/8 of an inch. It may be easier for you to work with half of the ball of dough at a time.
Flour the dough liberally and either cut into misshapen pieces of as equal size as possible or into long noodle like strips. Roll in the remaining flour so that the pieces do not stick together. Set aside to rest and dry slightly while you boil a pot of salted water.
Once the water has come to a boil, add the pasta pieces and stir a couple of times. Cook between 3-8 minutes depending on the size and shape of your pasta. My spätzle took 4 minutes to rise to the surface of the water, whereupon I stirred them and gave them an extra minute to bubble away. Having tasted one, they then all got an additional 30 seconds and were then drained and finished in the sauce for an additional 2 minutes. Long story short - give them 3 minutes and then taste.
Serve with the sauce of your choice. L. felt that a meat based sauce would have been better than my option as the spätzle were quite robust but I went with a basic tomato sauce with undertones of orange and coriander.
Inspiration recipe, here.