Vegan Cheese Spaetzle
From Käsknöpfle and Käsespätzle to Kasspatzln and Chäschnöpfli - one term is more beautiful than the other, and they describe a dish that everyone likes. I've never met anyone who would say no to the combination of soft spaetzle with melted cheese and a crispy mound of fried onions on top. Of course, this food is more familiar from Switzerland, the Allgäu, Tyrol or Upper Swabia, and I personally think that it tastes best in the fresh air with a view of the mountains and a glass of Almdudler next to your plate. BUT even on a gray day in Berlin with a view of the house wall on the street across the street, cheese spaetzle triggers pleasant feelings in me.
Well, that's the way it is: Isa actually has the Swabian family side and certainly makes better spaetzle than I do because she was probably under a spaetzle play sheet as a small child, BUT that's exactly why I tried my hand at making this meal myself. And lo and behold, it's not as complicated as you might think. Thankfully, you can now even buy vegan spaetzle if your own dough „fails“ or you want to cook quickly and easily today.
As most of you won't have a special spaetzle board or a spaetzle slicer at home, I didn't use any of these and instead used a potato ricer. You can even scrape the dough from a regular chopping board - there are plenty of instructions on the internet. And since spaetzle generally comes in different shapes and some of them are longer or shorter, thicker or thinner, we shouldn't put too much pressure on ourselves when preparing them. We all like spaetzle.
Today we serve them with crispy cubes of smoked tofu (you can also use vegan bacon cubes here) and homemade fried onions (because I never miss an opportunity to fry them) - you can also use the ones from the packet.
And once you've got into the spaetzle game, why not make one of our recipes with them tomorrow, for example vegan hunter's schnitzel with chanterelles and spaetzle, sour lentils with spaetzle, wild garlic spaetzle, cheese spaetzle rösti and vegan sauerbraten with spaetzle and red cabbage.
Vegan Cheese Spaetzle
Ingredients
For the fried onions:
- 2 onions
- 2 tbsp wheat flour (type 550)
- neutral vegetable oil or frying oil
For the spaetzle:
- 300 g (10.5 oz) wheat flour (type 550)
- 3 tbsp durum wheat semolina
- 1.5 tbsp corn semolina
- 3 tsp salt
- 1.5 tbsp vegetable oil
- 375 ml (1.5 cups) sparkling water
For the sauce:
- 1 onion
- 100 ml (0.5 cup) vegan cream
- 150 g (5.33 oz) vegan sprinkled cheese
- salt
- pepper
- nutmeg
- vegetable oil for frying
For the bacon alternative:
- 200 g (7 oz) smoked tofu (or vegan bacon)
- 0.5 tsp soy sauce
- oil for frying
For serving:
- chives
- side salad
Instructions
For the fried onions, peel them, halve as desired and cut them into (half) rings. Mix them with flour in a bowl so that they are coated all over. Heat plenty of neutral vegetable oil in a pan and fry the onion rings until they are crispy. Then remove from the oil and drain on kitchen paper.
Dice the smoked tofu and fry in a pan with vegetable oil until well browned. Season with soy sauce, then set aside. If you don't like smoked tofu, there are now also vegan bacon cubes that you can fry.
For the spaetzle dough, mix the flour, durum wheat semolina, corn semolina and salt. Then add the vegetable oil and sparkling water and mix everything into a smooth dough. Leave to rest for a few minutes.
In the meantime, peel and finely dice the onion for the sauce. Heat the vegetable oil in a pan and sauté the chopped onion for 3–4 minutes until translucent. Add the vegan cream and stir in the vegan cheese spread until it has melted. Season the sauce with salt, pepper and nutmeg and keep warm over a low heat.
Heat a large pan of lightly salted water, but do not bring to the boil. Pour the spaetzle dough directly into the boiling water using a press, a spaetzle scraper or a wooden board from which you scrape the spaetzle.
As soon as the spaetzle float to the surface, remove them with a spoon and add them directly to the vegan cheese sauce. Toss everything briefly and season to taste again.
Top the vegan cheese spaetzle with the smoked tofu cubes, crispy onions and finely chopped chives and serve with a side salad.
