Traditional Käsespätzle: the homemade German noodles baked with cheese and caramelized onion

Spätzle are the small pieces of egg dough that southern German cooking has eaten for centuries. The name means little sparrows, for the irregular shape the dough takes when scraped from the board into boiling water. In Swabia and Bavaria it is the base of dozens of dishes, and Käsespätzle, baked with cheese and onion, is the most beloved of all.

It is mountain-hut food, served in iron skillets after a day of hiking, with a green salad on the side for relief. The dough is the simplest thing in the world, flour, egg, water and salt, and the secret is beating it well until it bubbles, so the spätzle come out light and not rubbery.

There is a special tool, a kind of grater with a sliding hopper, but a coarse cheese grater, a colander or the board and knife will do. The traditional cheese is Emmental, and no one is offended by a mix of Emmental and Gruyère.

Recipe card

• Origin: Bavaria and Swabia, southern Germany
• Category: Main course, baked pasta
• Difficulty: Medium
• Preparation time: 25 minutes
• Cooking time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients — dough

• 400 g all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• 150 ml sparkling water (or still)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch nutmeg

Ingredients — assembly

• 3 large onions in thin slices
• 60 g butter
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 300 g coarsely grated Emmental (or half Gruyère)
• 3 tablespoons chopped chives
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Method

1. Mix the flour, eggs, water, salt and nutmeg and beat with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth, elastic and full of bubbles. Let rest 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a skillet and cook the onion with the sugar and a pinch of salt over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, stirring now and then, until well browned.
3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
4. Push portions of dough through the coarse grater or the colander, pressing with a spatula, straight into the boiling water. Alternative: spread a thin layer on a wet board and scrape thin strips into the water with a knife.
5. As soon as the spätzle rise to the surface, about 1 minute, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Repeat until the dough is used up.
6. Preheat the oven to 200 °C (400 °F). In a greased iron skillet or baking dish, build alternating layers of spätzle and cheese, ending with cheese.
7. Bake for 10 minutes, until the cheese melts and bubbles.
8. Top with the caramelized onion and chives, season with pepper and serve in the skillet.

Tips and variations

• Dough that is too soft runs through the grater: add flour little by little until thick and sticky.
• Sparkling water makes the spätzle lighter.
• Without an oven, mix hot spätzle and cheese in the pan over low heat until melted.
• Cooked spätzle freeze well and work as a side for roasts with gravy.
• A version with fried bacon between the layers is common in Bavaria.
• A leaf salad with a simple vinaigrette is the mandatory side to cut the richness.
• Serve with wheat beer, the drink of the region.

Käsespätzle is German comfort food in its purest form: fresh pasta, melted cheese and sweet onion, served hot in an iron skillet. Make it on a cold day.