How do you pronounce “spaetzle?” Do you put the emphasis on the “a” or the “e?” We’re putting the debate to rest, right here, right now. It rhymes with pretzel . . . we think . . . it depends where you’re from. Now that that’s settled, let’s drill down on this dish. We make scratch spaetzle laced with spinach. We whip up a creamy carbonara sauce, stir in some smoky bacon, and you have yourself one indulgent dish that’s ready in minutes. Never mind how you say it, never mind that we’re mixing German and Italian foods (gasp!), just make it, it’s delicious.
Satisfy your sweet tooth with this easy-to-make recipe for Spinach Spaetzle Carbonara.
1. Info for Spinach Spaetzle Carbonara
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 15 min
- Servings: 2
- Calories: 829.6 kcal
2. Ingredients for Spinach Spaetzle Carbonara
- 4 slices bacon (or turkey bacon)
- 3 handfuls fresh spinach
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- salt (staples)
- pepper (staples)
- 1 cup flour (staples)
- smoked paprika (optional – if you’re omitting the meat, add this for great smoky flavor)
- nutmeg (optional – sprinkle on top at the end, if you’d like)
3. Directions:
- Heat things up – Place a medium pot on the stove over med-high heat. Fill two-thirds of the way with hot water and bring to a boil for our pasta. Next, place a medium pan on the stove over med-high heat, and drizzle with olive oil.
- Bacon baby! – Grab your bacon, cube it up, and toss it in the oiled pan. Sprinkle a bit of water into the pan, this helps the bacon get crispy. Cook for 4-5 minutes.
- Make green spaetzle dough – Get out your blender. Add the handfuls of spinach to the blender, along with ½ cup water. Blend it up and set aside. Now grab a large bowl to make our spaetzle dough. Crack 1 egg (not both!) into the bowl and whisk it. Add in your blended spinach, flour, and whisk to combine. The mixture should be the consistency between a dough and a batter, add more flour if it’s too wet. Season with salt and pepper.
- Bacon is done! – Your bacon should be nice and crispy by now, remove it from the heat.
- Cook the spaetzle – Next, grab a colander and place it in the pot of boiling water. Pour your dough into the colander and, using a spoon, move the batter around pressing it through the holes of the colander. The little pastas will drop right into the water. Cook them for about 2 minutes.
- Make the sauce – Find your second egg and crack it into a bowl. Add the crispy bacon and grated cheese to the bowl and stir.
- Bring it all together – Using a spider, remove the spaetzle from the water and place it right into your sauce. The heat from the spaetzle will cook the egg as you stir it up. You’re done, plate it up and finish with a bit more grated parm!
- Hot tip! Measuring 101 – The proper way to measure flour is not to scoop and level, you should gently scoop and dump into another measuring container, allowing it to be loosely packed and properly measured.