Chicken Vegetable Soup with Herb Spaetzle

After Mother Nature dumped 4" of unwelcome snow yesterday, she further showed her miserable sense of humor by plummeting the temperatures into negative single digits this morning and a high of 10 during the day.  The sunshine was welcome though.  The cat soaked it up on top of the sofa and I caught some of the rays through the kitchen window.  The weather (and empty spaces in the freezer) said it was time for a big pot of chicken soup and what better time to try making something new ~ spaetzle.  Did I mention there's more storm watches up for tomorrow?  

Chicken Vegetable Soup with Herb Spaetzle


Chicken Soup ~

4 chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
6 cups chicken broth
1/8 cup onions, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup carrots, diced
1/2 cup peas
1 tsp oregano
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Herb Spaetzle

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
2 tsp dill weed
1 tsp parsley
2 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup milk

Gently saute seasoned chicken breasts in olive oil in a large dutch oven or stock pot.  Add in onions and cook until translucent and then add in the garlic and cook for another minute before adding in chicken broth.  Add in carrots and simmer until tender.  Add in peas and oregano.  

In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients and spices.  Add in eggs and milk.  The easiest way to make the spaetzle is to hold a large slotted spoon (Oxo Good Grips make an excellent one for this) half full and work a rubber spatula back and forth while holding it approximately an inch over the soup.  Keep working the dough through the holes until it's all in the soup.  Cover and cook for an additional 15 minutes.  I tried using a colander and it was messy.