My grandfather and I shared two connections: food and music. The matzoh ball soup at the restaurant around the corner. Frank Sinatra. Cocoa puffs served with chocolate milk. Glenn Miller Orchestra. Real goulash. Which never, he insisted, never contained tomatoes and was always served over the lightest spaetzle.

German goulash served over spatsle in a white bowl on a wooden background

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5 from 3 votes

Beef Goulash with Einkorn Spaetzle

A traditional, slowly simmered stew of paprika and beef is spiked with caraway seeds and served over heirloom einkorn wheat spaetzle.

Prep Time30

Cook Time2 30

Total Time3

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Ingredients

For the Goulash

3 tablespoons lard
3 yellow onions chopped fine
¼ cup sweet paprika
2 teaspoons whole caraway seeds
2 pounds beef chuck roast find grass-fed beef here, cubed
1 cup bone broth
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

For the Einkorn Spaetzle

3 cups all-purpose einkorn flour
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 eggs
1 cup water
2 tablespoons salted butter plus additional for sauteing finished spaetzle

To Serve

Finely chopped parsley

Equipment

Spatzle Press

Instructions

For the Goulash

Heat the oven to 275 F.
Melt the lard in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Toss in the chopped onion and let it sizzle in the hot fat until it releases its fragrance and turns translucent, about 4 minutes. Turn down the heat to medium-low and continue cooking the onion, stirring from time to time, until the onion browns and begins to caramelize at its edges - about 20 minutes further.
Stir the paprika and caraway seeds into the onion, and then stir in the cubed beef, stirring constantly to prevent the paprika from burning. Cook the beef in the onions and spices about 4 minutes, then stir in the beef bone broth and vinegar. Cover the pot and transfer it to the oven. Allow it to cook in the oven until the beef is tender, about 2 ½ to 3 hours.

For the Spaetzle

Dump the flour into a large mixing bowl, stir in the salt. Make a well in the center of the flour, and crack the eggs into the well. Beat the eggs into the flour, and as you beat the eggs, alternately beat in the water and the melted butter. Continue beating the batter until thoroughly mixed, and fine bubbles begin to appear.
Heat a stock pot full of water to a boil, and then transfer the spaetzle batter to the colander or spaetzle press, and press the batter through into the boiling water. Drain the spaetzle in another colander.
Melt a few tablespoons addition butter in a cast iron pan. Toss the spaetzle into the hot butter and warm it through.

Finishing the Goulash with Spaetzle

Remove the goulash from the oven. Plate the spaetzle, and serve the goulash over the spaetzle. Sprinkle it with chopped parsley and serve.

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