When the Spätzle dough trickles through the press like a thin thread into the water, you have not got Spätzle but egg custard ribbons. With our spelt Käsespätzle, the dough needs to be stiff enough to tear across the grater and break into uneven nuggets that drop into the boiling salted water. That tearing rather than flowing is precisely the point where most recipes without proper guidance fall apart.
We have been making Käsespätzle regularly for years, especially on cold days when something substantial needs to be on the table quickly. At some point we switched from plain wheat flour to spelt flour type 630. The dough becomes slightly firmer and more robust, and the finished Spätzle have a mildly nutty flavour of their own that carries the strong Bergkäse and Appenzeller much better. With 400 g of spelt flour, 4 eggs, and 200 g of milk we comfortably feed four people, and there is usually a portion left over to fry up the next day.
Spelt Käsespätzle with the Thermomix® and Herb Onions
Ingredients 0 / 15 ✓
- 400 g spelt flour, type 630
- 4 eggs
- 200 g milk
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 200 g aged Bergkäse
- 200 g Appenzeller
- 3 large onions
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 2 sprigs savory
- 1 bunch chives
- 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley
- 2 sprigs basil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
Instructions 0 / 8
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1
Knead the dough.
Add all the Spätzle ingredients to the mixing bowl and combine for 2.5 minutes / kneading mode until the dough forms bubbles.
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2
Cook the Spätzle.
Bring a generous amount of salted water to the boil in a large saucepan and press the dough through a Spätzle grater in batches. Lift the Spätzle out with a slotted spoon as soon as they float to the surface.
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3
Clean the mixing bowl.
Rinse and dry the mixing bowl.
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4
Chop the cheese.
Cut the cheese into pieces, add to the mixing bowl, chop for 12 seconds / speed 5 and set aside.
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5
Preheat the oven.
Preheat the oven to 180 °C (fan 160 °C, gas mark 3-4) and grease the baking dish.
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6
Fry the onions.
Peel the onions, halve them, cut into thin half-rings, toss in flour and fry in a frying pan with the oil until golden.
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7
Chop the herbs.
Wash the herbs and shake dry. Remove any thick stalks. Pick the basil leaves. Add the herbs to the mixing bowl with the salt and pepper and chop for 5 seconds / speed 8 using the spatula to assist.
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8
Bake.
Mix the herbs into the onions and layer the Spätzle alternately with cheese and the onion and herb mixture in the baking dish. Finish by covering evenly with cheese and bake for 20 minutes on the middle shelf.
Tip: Serve a fresh green salad with tomatoes alongside and the main meal is complete.
Nutrition per serving
Why the Thermomix® kneads spelt dough better than a bowl
Spelt flour behaves differently from wheat flour. It absorbs water more quickly and the gluten is more delicate. When kneading by hand, people often stop too soon because the dough already looks smooth. In the mixing bowl, 2.5 minutes of kneading mode run cleanly to the end without us needing to watch constantly, and during that time the dough forms long bubbles rising from the bottom of the mixing bowl. That is the signal that enough gluten has developed and the Spätzle will not fall apart during cooking.
Three points we have taken away from hundreds of portions:
- The dough must tear, not flow. With 400 g of spelt flour to 4 eggs and 200 g of milk the ratio is set so the dough breaks off at the Spätzle press. If it runs through cleanly, more flour is needed and the Spätzle will come out as ribbons instead of nuggets.
- Mix the cheese in at the end, do not bake it in from the start. We use the residual heat of the freshly cooked Spätzle so the Bergkäse and Appenzeller soften without running oily. Leaving the bake in the oven too long gives you a greasy layer on top instead of creamy strands inside.
- The herbs go into the still-warm mixing bowl. Savory, chives, flat-leaf parsley, and basil get 5 seconds at speed 8 with the spatula pushing them down. This keeps the flavours fresh and stops them turning to hay in a hot pan.
Which cheese works, which does not
Our standard blend is 200 g of aged Bergkäse plus 200 g of Appenzeller. The Bergkäse brings the nutty depth, the Appenzeller the slightly sharp edge and enough fat to make the mixture creamy when layered. We add both in rough chunks to the clean mixing bowl and chop for 12 seconds at speed 5. For a finer result, go to 15 seconds, but do not go beyond speed 6 or the cheese turns to powder and sticks to the base of the mixing bowl.
What has worked well for us: a blend of Esrom, Gouda, and Emmentaler on days when we have no Bergkäse in the house. What does not work: young Gouda alone. It melts well enough but has too little character, and the bake ends up tasting like pizza without the tomato. Mozzarella is also a poor idea because it forms long strings instead of spreading evenly between the Spätzle.
Where Spätzle fall apart or clump
Dough flows through the press instead of tearing
This happens when there is either too much milk in the dough or the mixing bowl has not kneaded it long enough. The gluten has not developed and the dough has no elasticity. Our fix: Add spelt flour a tablespoon at a time (always 1 tbsp, then another 30 seconds of kneading mode) until the dough falls heavily from the spatula and no longer slides back smoothly. Slightly too stiff is better than too soft, and the salted water is forgiving.
Spätzle stick together after lifting out
This is almost always a water-volume problem. When the pan is too small, the water temperature drops sharply as the dough is pressed in, the Spätzle do not cook through quickly and stick together. Our fix: At least 4 litres of boiling salted water for the quantity in this recipe and always press one batch at a time. Let the water return to a rolling boil between batches before continuing.
Bake turns greasy on top instead of golden
Leaving the Käsespätzle in the oven too long drives the fat out of the cheese, and it pools on top. Our fix: At 180 °C top and bottom heat, 20 minutes on the middle shelf is enough. The cheese on top should just be bubbling and colouring, nothing more. We take the bake out as soon as the edges are lightly browned and leave it to rest for 3 minutes before scattering the crispy onions over.
Crispy onions go soggy instead of staying crunchy
Three large onions in thin half-rings is a lot of volume. Tipping everything into the pan at once produces steamed onions because they release too much water at the same time. Our fix: Work in two batches, toss each batch in the 2 tbsp of flour and then fry in 1 tbsp of hot rapeseed oil until the rings are golden. Drain on kitchen paper so they stay crispy, and scatter over the bake only after it comes out of the oven.
Variations we have made ourselves
- With bacon: Fry 100 g of diced bacon with the onions until crispy and scatter between the layers before the final layer of cheese. Makes the bake smokier and is our winter version.
- Vegetarian with mushrooms: Use 200 g of sliced chestnut mushrooms instead of bacon, fried together with the onions. Important: add the mushrooms only once the onions have already taken on colour, otherwise they stew in their own juices.
- With sauerkraut: Add a layer of well-drained sauerkraut between the Spätzle and the cheese. It sounds unusual, comes from Vorarlberg, and gives the bake a pleasant acidity that cuts through the richness of the cheese.
- Gluten-free: Works with dark buckwheat flour instead of spelt, but you will need 2 extra eggs and 50 g less milk because buckwheat binds differently. The flavour is more rustic and the colour darker.
What to serve alongside
Käsespätzle are extremely filling, so we only serve something light alongside, never a second heavy dish. Most often we put a simple green salad or a red cabbage slaw with mint and orange on the table, because the acidity cuts straight through the richness of the cheese. Those who prefer something more traditional can serve a potato salad made with the Thermomix®, which is quite common in the Allgäu region. And for the cheese lovers among you, our Mac and Cheese with the Thermomix® is worth a look as your next comfort food idea.
Leftovers fried in butter the next day
Stored in the baking dish covered with cling film, the finished Käsespätzle keep well in the fridge for two days. To reheat, we skip the oven and use a non-stick frying pan with a knob of butter, frying the Spätzle over a medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes until the cheese melts again and the edges turn crispy. This is actually better than on the first day because the cheese has had time to soak in and the Spätzle pick up a lovely golden crust.
Freezing only works with the cooked, unlayered Spätzle. Once the cheese and herb-onion mixture are added, the dish becomes grainy after thawing because the cheese loses its structure when frozen. To prepare ahead, cook the Spätzle, briefly refresh them in cold water, pre-freeze them in portions on a tray and then transfer them to a bag. Defrost them straight in the frying pan with butter and add fresh cheese at the end.
What sets our spelt Käsespätzle apart from classic recipes
Also goes well with: Apple sauce.
Most Käsespätzle recipes for the Thermomix® use wheat flour type 405 and pure Bergkäse, and some even reach for ready-made Spätzle from the chilled aisle. We do it differently. We use spelt flour type 630, which gives the Spätzle a nutty character of their own and carries the strong cheese far better than neutral wheat flour. Instead of just Bergkäse, we blend Bergkäse and Appenzeller in a 1:1 ratio, because the Appenzeller brings the sharp edge that a pure Bergkäse bake is missing. And our fresh herb onions, made from home-fried half-rings with savory, parsley, and chives, replace the ready-made crispy onions from a packet. That is more work, but precisely this combination of spelt, the cheese blend, and real herbs is what lifts the dish above the standard.
More hearty Thermomix® classics for cold days:
- Pumpkin Soup with the Thermomix®
- Goulash Soup with the Thermomix®
- Potato Soup with the Thermomix®
- Cheese and Leek Soup with the Thermomix®
- Salami Pizza with a Cheese Crust
