I love the colors of autumn, as well as the flavors. Since pumpkin has always been a star of this season, I wanted to prepare an autumn variation of a classic Austrian dish: Käsespätzle.
These are small fresh pasta dumplings, in this case with pumpkin in the dough, which I enriched with lots of melted cheese from the Alpine region and onions fried in butter. A rich and tasty dish, which is usually served in the pan it was cooked in at restaurants.
Besides reminding me of my childhood, it also reminds me of the trip I took this summer to Austria, discovering many AMA-branded products, which are a guarantee of quality. Indeed, the passion and dedication towards their production are perceived in every bite.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Rest time: 10 Minutes
- Preparation time: 25 Minutes
- Portions: 4 people
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Austrian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
- 26 oz pumpkin
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp herb salt
- to taste nutmeg
- 14 oz Gouda cheese (or other melting cheese of choice)
- 1 onion (large)
- 2 tbsps butter
- to taste salt
- to taste chives
Steps
To prepare the pumpkin spätzle dough, preheat the oven to 400°F (convection) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Peel and cut the pumpkin into pieces of about 2 inches and bake at 400°F for about 20 minutes, until soft. Then remove from the oven, take 12 oz, and puree in a blender.
Place the flour in a bowl along with the pumpkin puree, eggs, salt, and nutmeg, and work with a spiral whisk until you obtain a homogeneous and rather thick batter, but still easily workable with the whisk. If it is too dense, add 2-3 tablespoons of water. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes.
Peel and finely slice the onion. Melt the butter in a pan and sauté the onion over high heat, stirring often, for about ten minutes, or until golden. Add salt and set aside.
Bring plenty of water to a boil in a large pot and slightly salt it.
Preheat the oven to 400°F (convection).
Cut the cheese into pieces and set aside.
When the water boils, place the spätzle grater, or the specific tool for making them, over the pot and pour in the batter. Let the spätzle fall directly into the boiling salted water. Wait until they float to the surface, cook for another minute, remove from the water with a slotted spoon, and place the spätzle in a bowl.
Add three-quarters of the cheese pieces and mix. Divide the spätzle into 4 oven-safe bowls or directly into a baking dish, top with the remaining cheese and fried onions.
Bake at 400°F for about 5 minutes, until the cheese on the surface has melted.
Remove from oven and serve your pumpkin spätzle with cheese and fried onions immediately.
