Kässpatzen – Spätzle with Cheese

Kässpatzen are a delicacy as well as a staple in Austria, Southern Germany and Switzerland. It’s like the German version of Mac ‘n Cheese – just better. Use good quality cheese from the mountainous regions in above countries and you’ll have yourself a feast in under 30 minutes.

Quick and easy to make. All it takes is flour, eggs, butter, onions, cheese and seasonings. Essentially a 5 ingredient meal. Add a nice green or mixed salad on the side for some fiber. Yes, this is a vegetarian dish – if you’re ovo-lacto vegetarian that is.

Before you ask, yes, you can replace the egg with some vegan egg replacement, replace the cheese and butter with vegan options too and you’ll have a pretty sorry meal because you replaced 3 of the 4 ingredients that give this dish it’s flavor and texture – so don’t do that. Use the onions to make an onion soup instead or look for a different recipe if you’re vegan. This is simply not a recipe you can veganize easily.

That said, time for the video and the recipe. Enjoy!

Below is the entire recipe. Of course, you use Spätzle – find the video and recipe here. Once you have Spätzle you just add a lot of shredded cheese to them and top them with caramelized onions. Quick and simple.

Kässpatzen

Spätzle with cheese = Kässpatzen. Sort of a German Mac 'n Cheese dish - just better.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine Bavarian, German

Servings 2

Ingredients

  

• 1.5 cups all purpose flour
• 5 eggs or 3 whole eggs and 3 egg yolks
• 4 onions or more...
• 2 oz water if needed to get the consistency right
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cups shredded cheeses Comte, Tilsit, Swiss, Gruyere, Fontina .., anything with good flavor that melts
• 4 tbs butter

Instructions

 

Caramelized Onions

• Chop the onions fairly small. Either slice thinly or just chop them up into a fine dice. Yes, using your food processor is ok.
• Add half a stick (4 tbs) or more if you like to a preheated pan on medium high. Add the chopped onions and a generous sprinkle of kosher salt. Stir.
• Once the onions start to develop a little bit of color, turn the heat down to low or medium low and slowly caramelize them until almost black. This takes anywhere from half and hour to an hour and you should check them often and stir.

Spätzle

• While the onions are caramelizing, bring a large pot of salted water to a slow boil.
• Mix the flour, a generous dash of salt and the eggs with dough hooks or a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined. Try to work some air into it. You want a batter like consistency that's very viscous and just barely drops off a spoon. Add a dash of water if needed.
• Follow the instructions in my Spätzle video. Either use a Spätzlehobel or Spätzlepresse to drip the dough into the slow boiling water. If you lack these implements, you can use a colander with large holes or a perforated pan and a spatula. Lacking that too, just shave them off a board with a spatula or back of a large knife. You want either teardrop shapes (using implements) or about 1/8th of an inch thick around 2 or 3 inch long "noodles".
• Once the Spätzle float up, extract with a wooden spoon.  Retain some of the cooking water to add to your final dish.
• Mix the Spätzle with the grated or shredded cheese mix. Add a dash of the cooking water or a little hot water if you use left-over Spätzle. Season to taste. Do this last as many cheeses add a lot of salt so chances are you don't have to season at all.
• Top with a generous helping of the caramelized onions and serve right away. This is the kind of dish that doesn't wait for people to eat it: people have to wait for it or it will set up and turn into a cheesy brick.