Homemade noodles with fried onions and grated cheese

Uwe Machreich from the Triad Restaurant cooks homemade noodles with fried onions and grated cheese

In Austria this dish has many names but one unique flavour: Cheesy pasta dumplings, known as Käsespätzle, Käsknöpfle or Käsenocken depending on where you go, are true gastropub classics.

Recipe:

Mix together the milk, eggs and butter. Combine the coarse-grained flour and fine ground flour and beat into the milk, egg, butter mixture to form a smooth dough. If you only have all-purpose flour in your cupboard, you can also use this as an alternative. Don't forget to add a pinch of salt and nutmeg to the dough for an extra savoury, nutty flavour. Leave the dough to rest for a short time so it can prove.

While you are waiting for your dough, slice the onions and fry in lard. You can then boil the Spätzle noodles – preferably in highly-salted water,  so don't hold back on the salt. Uwe's tip: Simply taste the water when it is cold. If it tastes like seawater, it's perfect. It's quick to make the Spätzle with a grater. However, it is also worth trying to make the traditional noodles using a board as the professional chef demonstrates in the instructional video.

If they float on the surface of the water, they are ready to be taken out and placed in another pan, where the noodles can be finished with delicious, grated alpine cheese. Uwe’s secret ingredient is a dash of the cooking water. He adds this to the pan. This makes his Käsespätzle super creamy and they can then be garnished with chives.

Ingredients:

• 150 g flour (fine ground)
• 150 g flour (coarse-grained)
• 30 g butter
• 3 eggs
• 190 ml milk
• 2 tbsp salt
• 1 onion
• 100 g grated alpine cheese
• Salt, pepper, nutmeg
• Chives, fried onions

Tip: Tastes delicious when served with a fresh salad.