Kasespatzle Recipe, Veggie with Style.

I Am Not a Little Sparrow.

pop quiz: the lyric above is from what song and artist? clue: no ‘little sparrow’ could have taken Glastonbury by storm in 2014 in quite the same way.

I’m not sure how this veggie food is made, but it looks like and tastes like a cross between pasta, noodles and gnocchi and comes smothered in cheese: A macaroni style comfort food and cheese feast. Kasespatzle is at number three in my Top 10 Vegetarian Meals available in Austrian Ski resorts. Translated as ‘little cheese sparrows’, fear not this dish doesn’t contain any meat!

Vegetarian Kasespatzle Ingredients.

• 160g plain Flour
• 40g fine Semolina
• 4 Eggs
• 1tsp good Oil
• Pinch of nutmeg
• A few tbsp Water
• 50g butter
• 2 mid-sized onions cut in rings
• 25g Butter
• 80g grated Emmental cheese
• 80g grated Gruyere cheese
• Seasoning

How to Make Kasespatzle.

1. Start with combining the flour, semolina, eggs, oil, nutmeg and a good pinch of salt in a food processor.
2. Whilst blending, add water, a little at a time until you have a soft dough; a big spoonful takes 3-4 seconds to fall back into the bowl.
3. Cover and put somewhere cool so the dough can rest; at least 20mins, ideally about40mins.
4. Meanwhile, add the onions to the 50g butter heated in a frying pan over a low heat.
5. Cook them slowly, don’t stir too often. Allow the onions to develop a lovely, rich brown colour, but not burnt!
6. Tip the onions onto kitchen roll and keep warm.

To make the spatzle.

• Option 1: Traditionally. Place a handful of dough on a damp wooden chopping board, then using a palette knife, scrape and roll little bits of dough into small random shapes – if you have the board at an angle the spatzle can roll straight into the simmering water.
• Option 2: Professional. You could buy a spatzle-maker(!)
• Option 3: Bit messy, but works. Push the dough through the holes in a colander and then chop into short bits with a pair of scissors.

Turning spatzle into kasespatzle.

1. Fill a large saucepan with water and a pinch of salt, bring to a gentle simmer.
2. Cook the spatzle for a few minutes in the simmering water. They are cooked when they float to the surface.
3. Remove ‘floaters’ with a slotted spoon and tip into a warmed serving bowl containing the 25g of melted butter and the two lots of grated cheese, stir well.
4. Sprinkle the browned onions over the top dive in.

This recipe for kasespatzle serves two: I like mine with green beans, Andrew likes his with sausages!

pop trivia: “I am not a little sparrow” from Little Sparrow from an album of the same name by Dolly Parton released in 2001.