Spaetzle with Goat cheese and Jarlsburg

John went to a Titan's game today with friends, leaving me behind. He woke me up this morning (way too early), and while departing, just before I rolled back over, he told me he WILL be back for dinner. So: Katie has time + John is coming back for dinner = Katie has herself a cooking challenge.

Today's adventure was German cuisine. German cuisine has developed something of a bad rep here in the US, for some reason. It's unjustified. German foodies are out there, however, and one of them is part of my inspiration for trying this! (Had dinner with her the other day, along with some other good friends I haven't hung with in a loooong time. I should be prosecuted for friend neglect, it wouldn't be unjustified.)

Spaetzle (pronounced schpetz-lah), a egg-noodle/dumpling, are a very popular German dish, originating in Bavaria. There are many shapes and sizes for these tasty little things, but all varieties have a few things in common - flour, eggs, and nutmeg. It's the nutmeg that gives them that unique taste.

I stumbled across spaetzle the first time by accident. While at the Taste of Owensboro a couple of years ago, I bet on a basket of German food goodies in a silent auction. I won (naturally), and included in my prize was a bag of spaetzle. Ever the food explorer, I didn't hesitate to make them, following the little recipe included, which was for Kaese Spaetzle, which is like a German mac-n-cheese. WOW was my recorded response after first bite. Kroger sells these little German gems, so I've made the dish many times since.

The challenge today is to make spaetzle from scratch. I've wanted to do this forever now! A while ago I bought myself a spaetzle-maker, but just haven't had the time to actually do it. No longer. It's game time!

Figuring out how to make it took some time. Messed with the batter forever, trying to get it right. The consistency of the dough is very important. It must be elastic, but not thick and stiff like bread dough. I took a photo of what it looked like when I felt it had reached the right state. Hopefully you can see the swirl of the dough, it needs to hold its shape somewhat when you pull out your mixing spoon, but not hold it hard. (Like soft peaks, when whipping egg white. Eventually it will lose it's shape.)

Here's a photo of the noodles as they cook and rise to the surface, ready for me to scoop them out. (Kind of blurry, sorry).

And here's a photo of the finished dumplings, ready to be mixed with parsley and cheese.

Besides nutmeg, I mixed a dash of white pepper and cracked black pepper into the mixture.

For the casserole: once I'd finished the dumplings, I placed them into a bowl, and immediately mixed in half of the shredded Jarlsburg and all of the goat cheese. In total this recipe uses a little over 2 cups of cheese! 3 TBS of goat cheese, and then an entire package of Norwegian Jarlesburg. If you can't find this cheese, or anything similar, than swiss cheese will work in a pinch.

I cooked some onions in butter until glassy (don't brown or caramelize them), and mixed half in with the spaetzle and cheese mixture. Next I greased a deep casserole dish, and placed my spaetzle mix in it. The rest of the jarlsburg went on top, and then the remainder of the onions.

Baked uncovered at 325 for 40 minutes. The result is what you see on top.

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Kaese Spaetzle

by October-28-2012

Ingredients

• For the dumplings:
• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp cracked black pepper
• dash white pepper
• 3 eggs, beaten until foamy
• 1/2 cup 1% milk
• For the casserole:
• 3 TBS butter
• 1/2 sweet onion, chopped
• 2 TBS parsley
• 1 1/2 cups jarlsburg cheese, shredded
• 3 or 4 TBS goat cheese, crumbled

Instructions

1. Sift together flour, nutmeg, salt, and peppers. Beat eggs in separate bowl, until frothy. Gradually mix in eggs and milk. Mix until the dough is elastic. Consistency should be semi-liquid, with a plastic, sticky aspect. If too moist, add more flour. If too dry, add more milk. Allow to rest while bringing pot of water to boil.2. Fill a large dutch oven about a third of the way with water. Bring to a boil. Press batter through a spaetzle maker, colander, or cheese grater. Spaetzle will float to the top of water when cooked through. Some may stick to bottom of pot. Remove to a separate bowl. 3. Mix in parsley. Add additional pepper if desired. Mix in half of jarlsburg cheese and all of goat cheese. 4. In a large skillet, cook onions in butter until glassy. Mix half into spaetzle/cheese mixture. Place mixture into a greased casserole dish.5. Place remaining jarlsburg cheese on top of dumpling mixture, then remainder of onions. Place uncovered in oven at 350 degrees. Bake for 45 mintues, serve hot.