Maultaschen

I found myself in Greenville, SC recently, and tried out the famous Schwaben House restaurant, which serves authentic German cuisine.  They won an award for their Maultaschen (which I’d never heard of), so I had to give it a try.  It’s basically a very finely ground combination of meats (this was pork and beef) inside pasta, cut into strips.  It was so wonderful the Chef found a recipe for it and tried to recreate it when we got home.  I have to say it was pretty darn close.  The photo below shows the way the Schwaben House served it.  Quite different presentation, I must say.  I think it was steamed in the mason jar (lid on).  Then you pulled them out with your fork and poured the broth/gravy over them.  Wonderful!  We skipped the mason jars, and they turned out just as good.  This recipe made quite a few, and we ended up freezing the rest for later.  Enjoy!

Maultaschen in the mason jar, gravy and German potato salad on the side.  Yum!

Ingredients:
For the Dough

• 2 ¾ cups of flour
• 4 eggs
• pinch of salt
• warm water

For the Filling

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 6 slices bacon, cut into small pieces
• 3 onions, diced
• ½ lb. ground pork
• 1 hard bread roll, cut in half
• ½ lb. cooked spinach (drained)
• ½ lb. ground beef
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• pinch of nutmeg

Paste (for sealing edges of pasta after stuffing)

• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons milk

For cooking

• canned beef broth

Preparation

·         Combine the flour, eggs, and salt in a bowl and mix to make a dough. Add a little warm water and knead until it has a firm but elastic consistency

·         To make the filling, melt the butter in a skillet and fry the bacon and onions until both are translucent.

·         Combine the bacon mixture with the ground pork and mix well

·         Moisten the hard roll in water, press dry, and put through a meat grinder or food processor (the filling needs to be processed almost to a paste consistency) along with the bacon mixture, cooked spinach, and ground beef

·         Fold in the eggs, parsley, salt, pepper and nutmeg and mix well

·         On a board dusted with flour, roll out the dough into rectangular sheets (about twice as wide as you want your Maultaschen to be)

·         Using a spoon, put some of the filling at equally spaced 3-inch intervals all down the middle of one side of the sheet of dough

·         Mix together the egg and milk and apply it to the dough around the filling (to seal the edges)

·          Fold the dough over to cover the filling and press down firmly on the spaces around the filling

·         Use a pastry wheel or knife to separate into 3-inch squares or diamond- shaped ‘Maultaschen’.

·         Cook thoroughly in beef broth or simmering salted water for about 10 to 15 minutes, depending upon the size of the Maultaschen

·         When they rise to the surface they’re done.  Drain thoroughly before serving.

·         Optional: you can fry a few onion slices in butter and pour over the top of the Maultaschen when serving

·         Top with a little of the remaining beef broth/gravy from the pan (you can thicken the broth with a little flour to make gravy if you prefer)