MAULTASCHEN
(Swabian Pockets)
Dough:
2 3/4 cup flour
4 egg
salt
Filling:
1 tablespoon butter
6 bacon rasher, cut into cubes
3 onion, diced
1/4 lb Italian sweet sausage
1 hard roll
1/2 lb spinach, cooked
1/2 lb ground meat
1 cup farmer's sausage, diced
3 egg
3 tablespoons parsley, fresh, chopped
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
nutmeg, grated
1 egg
3 tablespoons evaporated milk
beef stock
Combine the flour, eggs, and salt in a bowl and mix to make a pasta dough. Add a little water and knead until it has a firm but elastic consistency.
To make the filling, melt the butter in a skillet and fry the bacon with the onions until both are translucent. Combine the bacon mixture with the sausage meat.
Moisten the hard roll in water, press dry, and put through the meat grinder, along with the bacon mixture, cooked spinach, ground meat or smoked farm sausage, leftover roast, etc. Then fold in the eggs, parsley, and seasonings; mix together.
On a board that has been sprinkled with flour, roll out the dough into rectangular sheets (about twice as wide as you want your 'Maultaschen' to be). Take a tablespoon measure and put little dabs of filling at equally spaced 3-inch intervals all down the middle of one side of the sheet of dough. Mix together the egg and canned milk and apply it to the spaces in between, the outer edge and the fold line. Fold the plain half of the sheet of dough over to cover the filling, press down firmly on the spaces around the little packets of filling, and use a pastry wheel or knife to separate the packets into 3-inch square- or diamond- shaped 'Maultaschen'. Cook thoroughly in beef stock or boiling salted water for about 10 to 15 minutes, depending upon the size of the 'Maultaschen'. They'll bob up to the surface when they're done; remove them with a slotted spoon and allow to drain.
To serve: Cut an onion or two into half-rings, fry in butter until golden brown and empty the contents of the skillet over the 'Maultaschen' on the serving dish. Serve with potato salad or a mixed green salad.
