Instructions: Sift flour, salt and nutmeg together in a bowl. Pour eggs and 1/4 cup water into middle of flour mixture, beat with a wooden spoon. Add enough water to make the dough slightly sticky, yet keeping it elastic and stiff.

Using a spaetzle machine or a colander with medium holes, press the noodles into a large pot full of boiling salted water. Cook noodles in the water about 5 minutes or until they rise to the surface. Lift noodles out and drain on paper towels. Brown noodles in melted butter over low heat, and serve with a main dish. Or, dont bother browning them, and serve in/with soup, or with stew.

(Another method for shaping the noodles is to spread the mixture on a wooden board and cut off little pieces, dropping them in the boiling water and fishing them out quickly when theyre done.)

(Be prepared to write off your first few attempts at spaetzle, by the way.)

They are very labor-intensive, and a little miscalculation with the time in the hot water can ruin them.

If you would like to email yourself the recipe for later use, or share the recipe with your friends or family, enter the email addresses below and this recipe will be emailed to you and others as well.