Wild garlic Schupfnudeln only work if the wild garlic goes straight into the dough right after chopping. If you chop it separately and leave it sitting, the aroma escapes into the air and you end up with green noodles that taste of nothing.
We have been making Schupfnudeln every spring for years, as soon as wild garlic appears at the weekly market. The recipe is straightforward, but the order of steps matters. The wild garlic goes directly into the potato dough after chopping, with no pause in between. The essential oils in wild garlic are volatile. If the chopped leaves sit on the board for 5 minutes while you peel the potatoes, half the aroma is already gone.
Wild Garlic Schupfnudeln with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 10 ✓
- 60 g Parmesan
- 1 bunch wild garlic
- 600 g floury potatoes, cooked in their skins from the day before
- 180 g Spätzle flour
- 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- etwas flour for dusting
- 50 g butter
Instructions 0 / 5
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1
Grate the Parmesan.
Add Parmesan in pieces to the mixing bowl and grate for 15 sec / speed 10, then set aside.
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2
Prepare the wild garlic.
Wash the wild garlic, pat dry carefully, place in the mixing bowl and chop using the spatula for 8 sec / speed 8.
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3
Potatoes.
Peel the potatoes, add to the mixing bowl with the flour, oil, eggs, salt and nutmeg, and mix for 30 sec / speed 6.
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4
Cook the Schupfnudeln.
Bring a pot of salted water to a gentle simmer. Dust your work surface with flour, then shape the Schupfnudeln with floured hands and simmer for approximately 3 minutes in the water.
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5
Fry the Schupfnudeln.
Once all the Schupfnudeln are cooked, melt the butter in a frying pan, fry the Schupfnudeln until golden, and serve topped with Parmesan.
Tip: A green salad goes well alongside. Leave out the Parmesan and they also pair beautifully with sauerkraut.
Nutrition per serving
Why floury potatoes from the day before
The potatoes must be floury and completely cold. Floury varieties such as Maris Piper or King Edward break down more easily during cooking, release more starch, and bind the dough better. Waxy potatoes stay too firm, and the dough turns crumbly.
Potatoes from the day before have less residual moisture. Freshly cooked potatoes still steam, and that moisture makes the dough sticky. A night in the fridge dries out the surface. It sounds like a small detail, but it makes the difference between a dough you can shape and one that sticks to your hands.
Spätzle flour instead of plain wheat flour
Spätzle flour is milled finer than standard plain flour and has a higher gluten content. Schupfnudeln need elasticity so they hold their shape when rolled and do not fall apart during cooking. Spätzle flour gives the dough exactly this structure without making it tough.
If you do not have Spätzle flour, use plain flour (Type 405 equivalent), but increase the quantity to 200 g. Lower gluten content means you need more volume to achieve the same binding.
Parmesan first, then an empty mixing bowl
The Parmesan is grated first and removed from the mixing bowl. 15 seconds at speed 10 is enough for 60 g. The wild garlic then goes into the clean, dry mixing bowl. If Parmesan residue is left in the bowl, it mixes with the wild garlic and sticks to the base. The wild garlic ends up unevenly chopped, with some parts turning to mush.
The mixing bowl does not need to be washed between the Parmesan and the wild garlic, just wiped out. Water in the bowl would make the wild garlic mushy during chopping.
Chopping wild garlic with the spatula
The wild garlic is chopped for 8 seconds at speed 8. The leaves are moist and cling to the sides of the mixing bowl. Without the spatula, half the leaves stay stuck at the top while the bottom turns to puree. Use the spatula to push the leaves down during mixing. This distributes the cuts evenly.
Chopped wild garlic oxidises quickly and the cut surfaces turn brown. So add the potatoes and remaining ingredients immediately after chopping. No gap between chopping and mixing the dough.
Mixing the dough without over-working it
The peeled potatoes go into the mixing bowl with the Spätzle flour, rapeseed oil, eggs, salt and nutmeg. 30 seconds at speed 6 brings everything together into a smooth dough. Speed 6 is enough because floury potatoes break down quickly. Higher speeds make the dough sticky as too much starch is released.
The dough must be shaped immediately after mixing. The longer it sits, the more moisture the flour draws from the potatoes. After 15 minutes the dough turns soft and can no longer be shaped.
Shaping with plenty of flour on the surface
Dust your work surface generously with flour. Roll the dough into finger-thick logs, cut into 4 cm pieces and roll each piece between your palms into a Schupfnudel shape. The classic shape comes from applying more pressure in the middle than at the ends as you roll. The noodles become thicker in the centre and taper towards the tips.
Keep flouring your hands. If the dough sticks to your palms, the noodles will not form cleanly. Better too much flour than too little.
Simmering, not boiling
The water must not boil vigorously, only simmer. A rolling boil tosses the noodles around, they knock into each other and split open. At 90 to 95 degrees the noodles rest calmly on the base until they float to the surface after 3 minutes.
When the Schupfnudeln float to the top, they are done. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and transfer directly to the frying pan. Do not rinse them in cold water as this makes them rubbery.
Do not let the butter get too hot
Melt the butter in the frying pan over medium heat. If the butter gets too hot and turns brown, it burns and becomes bitter. The Schupfnudeln need 4 to 5 minutes to turn golden. Swirl the pan occasionally so all sides get some colour.
Scatter the grated Parmesan over the finished Schupfnudeln only at the very end. If the Parmesan fries in the pan, it clumps together.
Best eaten straight away
Wild garlic Schupfnudeln taste best fresh from the pan. Reheated, they turn chewy and the wild garlic aroma fades with the second heating. If you have leftovers, fry them briefly in the pan the next day, but the texture will not be the same.
Goes well with: Goulash and sauerkraut.
Goes well with: Carbonara pasta bake with the Thermomix®.
A green salad or sauerkraut works well alongside. Without Parmesan the Schupfnudeln pair well with sauerkraut, with Parmesan they go better with salad.
