Acorn Spätzle
This recipe for spätzle was developed by Hank Shaw of Hunt Gather Cook. The Käsespätzle recipe was developed by Jed Wheeler of Manzanita Cooperative
Ingredients:
3 cups acorn or chestnut flour
5 cups all purpose wheat flour
4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
Process:
Whisk together the two flours and salt in a large bowl. Whisk the buttermilk and eggs together in another bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour and mix well with a fork until you get a sticky batter.
Cover and let this sit on the counter for at least 30 minutes, to allow the flours to hydrate.
Bring a large pot of salty water to a boil. Using a spätzle maker, a coarse grater, colander or other device with large holes, drop the spätzle dough into the water in little bits. Boil for 1 to 2 minutes after they all rise to the surface.
If you are eating them now, they’re ready. To hold for up to a day or so, plunge the spätzle into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and toss with a little oil, then set out on a sheet pan to dry.
You can reconstitute the spätzle by pan frying in a bit of butter. Heat maybe 1/4 cup of butter in a large, wide pan and lay the spätzle down on it. Toss to combine, then let the spätzle brown a bit by not moving them for about 90 seconds. Remove from the pan and serve hot as a fresh pasta - they go well with a light butter & garlic or mushroom sauce.
Spätzle can be done small, or in larger chunks as small dumplings, depending on your preference. The acorn in this recipe improves flavor while adding protein, fiber, essential minerals, and more compared to using only wheat. Acorn also improves satiation so it’s easier to not over eat, though it’s delicious enough you may want to anyway!
Fresh spätzle is delicious lightly pan fried with bacon and caramelized onions and then garnished with cheese,
Käsespätzle
Käsespätzle is literally “spätzle with cheese.” This is almost certainly the ancestor dish of American mac n’ cheese and is truly delicious. This version adds savory pine nuts and acorn to make something truly special.
Ingredients:
5 cups cooked Spätzle
6 tablespoons butter
2-3 large onions, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 ounces shredded cheese - Emmentaler, Jarlsberg, or Gruyere all work well. Sharp cheddar has a good flavor but tends to get grainy when it melts, so if you’re going that route you’ll want to mix it with Jack or something similar that melts smoother and can balance it.
1 cup of pine nuts
(Optional) 3-4 cloves of garlic
(Optional) Bacon!
Process:
Fry the bacon until it’s your preferred degree of crispy and set aside. Also, if you want, you can replace some or all of the butter in this recipe with the rendered bacon fat.
Wrap the garlic cloves in foil and add a bit of the butter, and then put it in a toaster over for 20 minutes while you complete the following steps to cook through
Finely chop the onions and caramelize them in a pan using 2 tablespoons of butter
Finely chop the pine nuts. Blitzing in a food processor works well
Pre-heat oven to 400
Once the garlic is done roasting, mash it to make a smooth paste.
Use some of the butter to line a large baking pan. Add the Spätzle, caramelized onion, garlic, remaining butter cut into small pea-size particles, and cheese; and then evenly sprinkle the salt. Stir together to mix thoroughly. Note that some people prefer to layer the cheese and Spätzle instead. Do you.
Sprinkle ground pine nuts and bacon across the top
Cover pan with foil or a lid
Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes and then remove lid or foil and bake for another 2-3 minutes until the pine nuts on the top are golden brown.
