Käsespätzle (Cheese Spätzle with Caramelized Onions)

Homemade egg spätzle layered with nutty Gruyère and Swiss, baked until bubbling and crowned with sweet, jammy caramelized onions: Swabian mac and cheese.

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• ½ cup milk
• 3 onions, thinly sliced
• 4 tbsp butter
• 6 oz Gruyère, shredded
• 6 oz Swiss, finely chopped or shredded
• chives or green onions, sliced
• a green salad, to serve

From your pantry: 2 cups flour, 1 tsp salt, ¼ tsp nutmeg, ½ tsp sugar, ½ tsp pepper.

Instructions

1. Melt 3 tbsp butter in a skillet over medium-low, add the onions with a pinch of salt and the sugar and cook, stirring now and then, until deep golden and soft, 25 to 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile whisk the flour, salt and nutmeg with the eggs and milk and beat with a wooden spoon until the batter is thick, smooth and bubbly, about 2 minutes. Let it rest 10 minutes. Heat the oven to 400°F and butter a 2-quart baking dish with the last 1 tbsp butter.
3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Press the batter through a spätzle maker, a colander with large holes or the big holes of a box grater straight into the water, in two batches. When the spätzle float, 1 to 2 minutes, lift them out with a slotted spoon.
4. Layer the hot spätzle in the dish with the mixed cheeses and plenty of pepper, ending with cheese.
5. Bake until melted and bubbling at the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Top with the caramelized onions and chives and serve with the salad.

Tip: Emmentaler is the traditional cheese; Swiss is its supermarket cousin, and the Gruyère adds the sharp, nutty depth you'd get from Bergkäse.

Nutrition per serving

Good for

Adapted from The Daring Gourmet.

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