Maultaschen
Units
Servings
Ingredients
Pasta dough
- 300 g all-purpose flour rounded
- 3 eggs, large rounded
- 15 ml olive oil rounded
- 6 g fine salt rounded
- to taste water, only if the dough stays dry rounded
Filling
- 250 g ground pork rounded
- 250 g ground beef rounded
- 200 g fresh spinach rounded
- 150 g yellow onion, finely chopped rounded
- 1 garlic, minced rounded
- 15 g butter rounded
- 120 g stale white bread rolls, soaked in milk and squeezed dry rounded
- 2 eggs, large rounded
- 30 g flat-leaf parsley, chopped rounded
- 8 g fine salt rounded
- 0.5 g ground nutmeg or mace rounded
- 1 g ground white pepper rounded
- 0.25 g dried marjoram rounded
To cook and serve
- 2 L beef or chicken broth rounded
- 1 egg white, for sealing rounded
Method
Method
- Make the dough. Mix the flour, eggs, oil, and salt, then knead by machine or by hand until smooth and elastic, adding a little water only if it stays dry. The dough should feel like chewing gum and should not stick. Wrap it and rest for 40 minutes.
- Wilt the spinach in a little boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes, drain, rinse cold, squeeze it very dry, and chop it finely.
- Melt the butter and soften the onion for 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and parsley and cook 1 minute more. Let it cool.
- Combine the pork, beef, spinach, onion mixture, soaked bread, eggs, salt, nutmeg, white pepper, and marjoram. Mix well with your hands until it is cohesive. For a finer texture, pulse about a third of the mixture in a blender and stir it back in.
- Roll the dough very thin, almost translucent, and cut it into squares of about 9 to 10 cm.
- Place a spoon of filling on each square. Brush the edges with egg white, fold into a triangle or top with a second square, and press the edges with a fork to seal tightly.
- Bring the broth to a gentle simmer. Working in batches so the pot is not crowded, simmer the Maultaschen for about 15 minutes, until the dough is cooked through. Lift them out with a slotted spoon.
Serving styles
- In der Brühe: hot in a bowl of the clear broth with sliced Frühlingszwiebeln. The classic and the simplest.
- Geschmälzte Maultaschen: pan-fried in butter after simmering, topped with deeply caramelized onions.
- Gebratene Maultaschen mit Ei: sliced, fried in butter, then beaten egg with herbs poured over and cooked like a scramble.
- Schweizer Art: laid whole in a dish, topped with ham and a Swiss-style cheese, baked until bubbling.
Notes
- Large square wonton wrappers that contain egg work as a dough shortcut. A Swabian purist will object, but they cook the same.
- Freeze uncooked Maultaschen in a single layer, then bag them. Cook them from frozen straight in simmering broth.
- The filling can be made meat-free with extra spinach, ricotta, or a soft cheese.
- Serve with a Schwäbischer Salatteller or a simple green salad.
- The three checks that decide the result: thin dough, spinach squeezed properly dry so the filling is not wet, and a tight seal so they hold in the broth.