Käsespätzle

Making Käsespätzle

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1. Fry the onions in the oil and half the butter over medium-low heat with the sugar for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring, until deep golden and crisp at the edges. Set aside.

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2. Whisk the flour, eggs, milk, salt and nutmeg together, then beat hard with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes.

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3. The batter is ready when it is glossy, elastic and forms visible bubbles that pop slowly on the surface.

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4. Rest it 20 minutes.

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5. Bring a large pan of well-salted water to a rolling boil.

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6. Press the batter through a spätzle press or the large holes of a colander into the water, or spread it thinly on a wet board and scrape thin strips off the edge with a palette knife.

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7. The spätzle sink and then rise. Once they float, cook 60 seconds more, then lift out with a slotted spoon.

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8. Work in three batches, transferring each to a warm buttered dish and scattering a third of the mixed cheeses over each layer.

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9. Melt the remaining butter and pour it over, then cover and leave 3 minutes for the cheese to melt through.

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10. Top with the crisp onions, black pepper and chives and serve immediately.

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Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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Notes for Getting It Right

• Beat the batter until it blisters. Undeveloped batter falls apart in the water.
• A spätzle press is cheap and makes this trivial, but a colander and a spatula work fine.
• Layer the cheese between batches rather than dumping it on top, so it melts throughout.

What Goes With Käsespätzle

• A green salad with a sharp vinaigrette
• A German lager or a dry Riesling
• Apple sauce, in the Swabian way

Storing & Reheating Käsespätzle

Plain spätzle keep 3 days refrigerated and freeze 2 months. Reheat by frying in butter, which is arguably better than fresh.

Käsespätzle: Questions and Answers

Käsespätzle Nutrition

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

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