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Herby Spaetzle with Creamy Lemon Sauce

This Herby Spaeztle recipe comes from Scott Conant's new cookbook, Peace Love and Pasta. I've added a Creamy Lemon Sauce and peas to make this a hearty and comforting vegetarian main dish. (Please note that Peace Love and Pasta was sent to me as a promo copy from Abrams Books.)

Course Main Course
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

For the Herb Spaetzle:

  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 Tbsp copeed fresh thyme
  • 1/2 tsp chopped fresh sage
  • kosher salt
  • 4 egg yolks from large eggs
  • 2 cups whole milk

Everything else:

  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 1 lemon (zest of 1 lemon + 2 Tbsp of juice)
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 3 oz hard salty cheese (such as Manchego or vegetarian Parmesan), shredded
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (+ more if you like a bit more heat)
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

For the Herb Spaetzle:

  1. Drizzle the olive oil onto a baking sheet and set aside.

  2. Mix together the flour, rosemary, thyme, sage, and a Tbsp of salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in the egg yolks and milk. Whisk the egg yolks and milk together until incorporated and then fold the dry ingredients into the wet until everything is completely incorporated and there are no dry bits left.

  3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Set a metal grater with large holes over the pot and push the dough through the largest holes into the boiling water. Using a slotted spoon, remove the dumplings from the water as they float to the surface and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Reserve 3/4 cup cooking water.

For everything else:

  1. Using the same boiling water, once the spaetzle is finished cooking, boil the frozen peas for 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the peas to the baking sheet with the spaetzle.

  2. In a large skillet over medium heat, add the heavy cream and lemon zest and cook until starting to simmer, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and whisk in 1 Tbsp of butter at a time until melted and sauce is getting creamy.

  3. Turn the heat back up to medium, add the pasta water, spaetzle, and peas and toss to combine. Add the cheese, about an ounce at a time, stirring the whole mixture over the heat to emulsify it and create a creamy sauce (this should all take about 3 minutes and it's okay with the sauce is still a little loose as it'll thicken up as it cools slightly). Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice and a few grounds of black pepper. Taste and add more salt / pepper, if needed.

  4. Divide between four bowls and serve right away.