Traditional spätzle of the Italian mountains in vegetable style

In the mountains of Trentino since the end of May, I could not fail to present at least one traditional and local recipe.

I took advantage of the generosity of the fields to collect nettle, silene vulgaris (in my part we call them carletti or sciopeti) and plantain, to replace the more classic spinach, to color this beautiful plate of spätzle green.

Bring plenty of salted water to a boil. Wash and clean the wild herbs, then dip them for 30 seconds in boiling water and immediately in water and ice to whiten them. Once drained, blend them in an immersion blender with 380 g of water at room temperature.
Sift the flours, put them in a glass or ceramic bowl and gradually pour the green chlorophyll thus obtained, incorporating the flour gradually. Salt lightly and knead the dough until a homogeneous consistency is obtained. The dough must be liquid (but not too much!).

Bring the water back to the boil where you scalded the herbs. When it boils, with the help of the classic spätzle grater, let the dough fall into the water and, as the spätzle begin to float, remove them with a sieve or a slotted spoon and place them in a lightly oiled baking dish, in such a way that do not stick together.

In the meantime, cut some Piccadilly tomatoes into quarters and sauté them with plenty of onion, garlic and basil, cook over high heat for 15 minutes, stirring often and if necessary adding a drop of hot water. Use the sauce to season your spätzle, to your liking with a spoonful of nutritional yeast flakes, chopped parsley and lots of fresh basil leaves.