If you’re looking for a soothing side dish to serve with everything from roast chicken to veal cutlets or pork chops, homemade spaetzle is just the thing! The literal German translation of spaetzle is “little sparrow” and they are tiny, tender squiggled dumplings that, after simmering, are lightly toasted in a hot skillet, and tossed in melted butter. Usually plain, my spaetzle rendition has a few additions, making these exceptionally flavorful. Although you can make a firmer dough that can be rolled out and cut into slivers, I prefer the lightness of the batter-like dough that I’ve featured here. You can pick up an inexpensive, hand-held spaetzle maker to force the elastic but slack batter through lots of holes, directly into boiling broth or salted water. And, although I’ve instructed you to serve the spaetzle with melted butter, any flavorful gravy will also hit the spot. (In the photo, although not included in the ingredients list, here I added when sauteing the cooked dumplings, some crisp duck cracklings… heaven!) Oh, and if you’re wondering…kids go CRAZY for spaetzle….