Cheese Pasta or Kässpätzle

This is the second time I am preparing this dish. I had a Pyrex glass dish filled with homemade Swabian pasta in my fridge. My household help is from Swabia in the South West of Germany. What is better way than to get the right stuff.

The method we used at home was cooking the pasta in batches and putting it in the oven with grated cheese and brown onions in many layers until all the batter was gone. The heat of the oven melted the cheese.

This time I used an other method. I did not grate the cheese, I cut it up in small strips. It is important to use cheese which does not split in fat and solids when heated up.

I used Tyolian Mountain cheese and the last 3 slices of French Raclette cheese.

Ingredients:

300 g spaetzle, 

2 medium onions, 1 clove of garlic, 1 tbsp oil, 1 tsp honey, 2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper

2 tbsp clarified butter

100 g Raclette cheese, 75 g Mountain cheese

Prepare the onions with garlic first. Best cut in strips or rings. Saute in oil, season with salt and pepper and wait until they are soft. Add honey to caramelize, then the vinegar. Set aside on a plate. 

Cut the cheeses in thin strips. Ground some black pepper.

If you use cold spaetzle, heat up some water in a kettle and pour the boiling water over them and let them sit 3 min, drain.

Heat up clarified butter and toss 1/3 of the spaetzle in. Give them 2 min, add 1/3 of onions and cheese and start melting it. Stir constantly. Add the other third. Then finish and add black pepper.

Do serve it hot, do not let it sit around. It is eaten usually with a bowl of lettuce salad.