I made that!

At least I do. And my Hungarian friend Courtney let me borrow her spaetzle maker. And I thought I had every kitchen gadget!

It’s basically a cheese grater that can rest on your pot, and comes with a scraper that pushes the spaetzle dough through the holes and into the boiling water. It looks just like this:

They cook in like a minute, and then you scoop them up.

Fluffy little pasta poos!

And what do we do with spaetzle? We pour goulash all over it! and sour cream!

Not the most photogenic of meals, but it was fabulous.

Beef Goulash Recipe (Joy of Cooking):

4oz bacon or smoked ham, diced

1 1/2 lbs beef chuck, 1″ cubes

1 1/2 lbs pork or veal shoulder, 1″ cubes

1/2 cup flour

3 cups onions, thinly sliced

6 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup sweet paprika

3 red bell peppers, diced

1 cup carrots, diced

1 TBSP dried marjoram

1 tsp caraway seeds

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt

3 bay leaves

2 cups beef or chicken stock

1 cup dry white wine or beer

1/4 cup tomato puree or 2 TBSP tomato paste

1/2 to 1 cup sour cream

– Brown bacon in large pot. Remove bacon and pat dry.

– Flavor meat with salt and pepper and dredge in flour. Add to pot and brown all sides, being careful not to crowd or scorch the meat. Remove meat using a slotted spoon and set aside.

– Lower heat and add onions to pot. Cook until lightly colored and soft. Add garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Add the paprika, stir well and cook for another 2 minutes. Add bell peppers, carrots, marjoram, caraway, black pepper, salt and bay leaves to the pot. Toss to coat.

– Add stock, alcohol, and tomato. Bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits. Add the meat. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally until meat is tender (1 1/2 hours). Reduce sauce to thicken if necessary. Check seasoning.

– Serve over spatzle with sour cream.