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When staying at a friend's at some point, I was flipping through an Indian cookbook of hers and found a recipe for 100 Clove Garlic Curry. I liked the idea, but don't remember the name of the cookbook, so here's my take on it, with sweet potato thrown in for good measure. The flavours came out nicely, a little bitter, a little sweet, a little sour, and so beautifully creamy with the coconut milk. It was a big hit for all of us and it'll be back again soon. As with a lot of things recently, not too hot as Little Bit's spice tolerance is still somewhat lower than ours. Ingredients: 8 heads of garlic (ish), peeled 1 sweet potato, cubed 1 tbsp oil 1 tbsp mustard seeds 6 curry leaves 1/2 c water 1 c coconut milk 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp fenugreek powder 1/2 -3/4 tsp tandoori powder 1 tsp tumeric 1 tsp white vinegar 1 tsp brown sugar salt, water 1) Place oil in a pan and heat. When it is hot, add the mustard seeds heat them gently until they start to pop. 2) Add the sweet potato, garlic cloves, and curry leaves. Cook at high heat, frying for a few minutes until fragrant, then reduce the heat and add water. cover and cook gently until the garlic cloves are soft and translucent (this can take up to 20 minutes. just make sure they don't burn and that they have plenty of water). 3) Add the spices and coconut milk, stirring gently, then cook for a few more minutes. Serve with rice. I might add a dash more vinegar, or try it with lime juice next time instead, but hubby declares this curry perfect and tells me not to change it at all. I enjoyed it but might still play a little, just because, you know, food... EDIT: Having made it since, I can confirm that the recipe still works and that it also accepts other veg, like carrots or squash.

I've been doing a challenge on Instagram where there is a different ingredient each week around which a dish needs to be built. This week's ingredient is lemongrass. "Easy. I'll do a Thai curry," I thought. "But how about something new, too? How about something sweet with lemongrass. Maybe a lemongrass coconut panna cotta. No, it's Lent and I won't get a chance to try it. How about a savoury lemongrass panna cotta then? Hmmm. That's an idea. With what?" So in the end it turned into still crunchy stir fried veg with the warm spices from a curry, the panna cotta sitting on top of the veg with the cool flavours, and a chilli sauce drizzled over the top with the heat. I was not sure how any of this would work, starting with the panna cotta. Would it gel without a lot of sugar? And then how would it all come together. I wasn't sure until I made it exactly what I was going to put in the hot drizzle. In the end though it came out nicely. Ingredients: For the warm base: 1-2 sweet potatoes, cut into fat matches 3-4 carrots, cut into fat matches 1 -2 red peppers, cut into fat matches (1 onion thinly sliced if you have one, which I did not unfortunately) 4-5 cloves of garlic, sliced 1 tbsp peanut oil 1 tbsp mustard seeds 1 tsp coriander seeds 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds 2 tsp cumin 1 tbsp cooking sake juice of half a lime For the panna cotta: 1 l of coconut milk 2 stalks of lemongrass, chopped 1 small chunk of ginger, finely grated 2 packets or 70 g gelatine 6 drops of fish sauce 1 tbsp cane sugar Juice of 1 lime For the chilli sauce: 1 red chilli, chopped fine 1 tsp rice wine vinegar Juice of half a lime 1 tsp honey Topping: Coriander leaves Sesame oil Crispy millet (I soaked some millet grains in a little whey then put it in a cooling oven) 1) Prep the Panna Cotta in advance. Pour the coconut milk into a saucepan and warm gently. Add ginger and lemongrass and leave to infuse for at least an hour. 2) Bring the panna cotta back up to a gently simmer and add other ingredients except for the gelatine. Taste test then you have a choice. Either strain the bits out of the cream or, as I did, leave them in. I liked crunching on bits of lemongrass later. Add gelatine and simmer gently, stirring for about 5 minutes, then pour into small individual serving containers (eg ramequin pots) and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or overnight. 3) Heat oil in a wok. When the oil is hot, add the mustard, coriander and cumin seeds. When they start to pop, add the garlic. Fry briefly then add the vegetables and other ingredients. Cook at high temperature for a few minutes then reduce the heat. Cook until the sweet potato and carrot are cooked but still crunchy. 4) In a small simmer all ingredients for the chilli drizzle. Partially blitz and set aside. 5) Plate it all. Place the veg on the plate, tip a panna cotta out on top (I placed my ramequins in hot water for a few minutes to loosen the edges. I did it a little too long though and some of them were a little softer than I wanted.) Drizzle chilli sauce over it, then place coriander leaves around and millet crisp over the top of the panna cotta. This was a hit! I would do a few things differently next time though. I had hesitated about whether to do the veg in a wok or the oven. I did it in the wok in the end but I think another time I would do them in the oven to have crispiness to them rather than crunch. Also, I don't know that I would try to loosen the panna cotta in the cups first. Maybe just run a hot knife around the edge instead. As it was, the panna cotta melted a little fast, producing a (re)constructed Thai curry. The panna cotta was good on it's own and I would like to try it again with different pairings. It could also work as a dessert but would need a tangy coulis because it is quite rich.

Having roasted a turkey (a bit randomly) last week, we found ourselves with rather a lot of turkey carcass left to eat, and with only 2.5 of us working on it (I don't feel that Little Bit really pulled his weight), so aside from turkey sandwiches and soup, we needed to find other ways of eating it before it went off. This was one of them. Around Thanksgiving, my cousin had mentioned making his mom's Cuban stuffing, so I asked her for the recipe and made it with this turkey. It was delicious, with completely different flavour notes then the cornbread stuffing I usually do. It most notably has chestnuts, cumin, oregano and coriander in it. Using this left over stuffing as the lid for the pie also meant adapting the cream sauce a little. I made the pie crust a sage one as I find that sage goes really well with turkey. It worked very well! A little on the liquidy side, but as with the White Lasagne a couple of weeks ago, this didn't compromise the pie on the first evening at all, and meant that the leftovers heated up better. Ingredients: For the crust: 1 1/5 c flour 1/2 c butter, cold and diced 1 tsp sage 1/4 c milk For the filling: 1 tbsp butter 1 tbsp flour 2 - 3 c milk 1/2 c white cooking wine 2 tsp cumin 1 tsp coriander 1 1/2 c turkey, roasted and in small pieces 2 carrots, chopped 1 c peas Salt and pepper to taste 2 c left over Cuban Chestnut Stuffing 1) For the pie crust, place flour in a bowl and cut the butter into it. Using the tips of your fingers, work the butter into the dough. When it has reached the consistency of crumbs, add the sage and then the milk, mixing with a fork. Add the milk only a little at a time until you reach the right consistency. Working the dough as little as possible, bring it into a ball and chill for at least 30 minutes. 2) Make a roux. Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour, without letting it brown. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly. You don't want the white sauce to be too thick, but it should not be runny either. 3) Add the spices and the wine. Add the carrots, peas and turkey. Cook slowly, stirring regularly, giving the carrots a chance to start cooking. Salt and pepper to taste. 4) Roll out the dough and line the bottom and sides of a casserole dish with it. Pour in the white sauce, veg and turkey. Spoon the left over stuffing over the top to form a lid, folding down and crimping any excess pastry around the edges. 5) Bake at 180°C for 30 minutes or so until the pastry is golden brown. Dish it up. This was immensely satisfying and rich, if a little on the heavy side. The flavours all complemented each other nicely. The spices in the stuffing played well with the other flavours and overall this was a success!

I have always loved both candied and chocolate-covered orange peel, but never tried making it. It was a treat whose makings were shrouded in mystery, and justly so, as something so delectable couldn't be within the realm of mere mortal cooks, but must be kept by master pastry chefs. And then a couple of weeks ago I saw a post on Instagram by Aleks @garlicrosemaryandsalt about trying to make it for the first time. Given that I already save a lot of our orange peel to dry for use as an ingredient in a few very select dishes (ahem almost everything I make), I thought I would give it a try too, and they worked beautifully. Some I sugared, some I covered in chocolate and some I left plain. Ingredients: Orange peel (I think I had about 3 oranges' worth, you can use more or less) cut into strips - I left the pith on but might trim it a little next time. Sugar - I used around 1/2 c for the syrup, and about 2 tbsp for the candying - use more if you like yours sweeter 100 g Chocolate - I used 64% cacao dark chocolate. Milk could be an interesting choice too 2 -3 tbsp milk 1) Place the (clean) orange peel in a saucepan with enough water to cover it and add sugar. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for about an hour to an hour and a half until the orange peel begins to go almost translucent. 2) Remove and drain, spreading out on a baking sheet to dry overnight, turning occasionally. 3) Place the ones you want to candy in a jar with the sugar, seal and shake, coating them evenly. 4) For the chocolate-coated peels, place chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir regularly as the chocolate begins to melt. Add the milk as necessary to get the chocolate to melt smoothly. Dip strips of orange peel into the chocolate and lay on a baking tray covered with wax paper to dry. Place in fridge for an hour or so if necessary. All three methods are delicious. The ones I boiled but didn't coat remain acidic and tart, but without the bitterness and the edge taken off them. The sugared ones are candy, the chocolate ones melt together, the chocolate and orange melding seamlessly into a beautiful duo. Next time I might try a little spicing - some Aloha Spiced Cacao, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, salt or chilli flakes in the chocolate or sprinkled over the top. For a first try though I wanted to leave them simple, and I am glad I did. The candied ones, in addition to being excellent snack food, topped my Orange Chocolate Cake beautifully too! Book Pairing: When I made these, I was listening to Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. I was right at the start of the book where, despite knowing vaguely what was going to happen, reinforced by some foreshadowing, I was still early enough in that it was possible to just enjoy the beauty of Nabokov's writing without being fully disgusted with the main character and the story as I was through the rest of the book. It is wonderfully written, but I can't for the life of me work out why it is something one should ever read! As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Today I tried making ricotta for the third time, and this time it went off without a hitch. So well in fact, that I might start playing with things next time and see what happens. There was no scorching, and leaving the curds to sit a bit longer before draining them, I seem to have gotten 1/4 c more cheese this time than last time, although both times the curds were left longer than the suggested 15 minutes in the instructions. The ricotta was creamy and smooth, sweet with a little salty tang. I mixed it with some spinach and pepper and turned it into home made ravioli filling, served up with and asparagus and mushroom cream sauce. It was all good, but the filling, simple and straightforward, no fancy spice work or any jazzing up, was maybe the best bit. (Although, if I do say so myself, the pasta and the sauce were good too. I used a little cornmeal in the pasta to give it some bite despite being rolled thin, and it was soft and elastic. The sauce was creamy, with just a dollop of mustard for bite). Keep following for more of my cheese adventures! EDIT: I had not planned to publish the recipe for these, but I have had a couple of requests, so thought I would publish it here. Ingredients: For the filling: 700 g fresh ricotta 2 c fresh spinach, wilted, or 2 cubes of frozen spinach, defrosted 1/2 c whey Pepper For the pasta: 2 c flour 1/2 c multi-grain flour 1/2 c corn meal 4 eggs 1/2 c whey Pepper For the sauce: 3 asparagus spears, chopped 1 /2 tbsp olive oil 75 g mushrooms 1 - 2 tsp butter 1 - 2 tsp flour 1 tsp sumac 1 tsp orange peel 1/2 c milk Pepper 1) Roast asparagus with olive oil at 180°C until tender. Add mushrooms for the las ten minutes. 2) Mix the ricotta and spinach together, using only as much of the whey as is necessary to moisten the filling until it is smooth. Taste test and set aside. 3) In a separate bowl, put the flours and corn meal , making a well in the centre. Crack the eggs into the well and gradually mix to a soft elastic dough. If necessary, add the whey (the wholemeal flour and the corn meal may make the dough a little dry). Work the dough until smooth, then pass it through the pasta maker on successively smaller settings. Create ravioli, placing a teaspoon of the filling in the centre of the wells and seal well. 4) Make a small amount of roux in a pan using the butter and flour. Add the milk in small amounts, then stir in the asparagus, mushrooms, sumac, orange peel and pepper. 5) Boil the ravioli in batches for a few minutes only. Be aware though that these cook much faster than dried pasta. Coat in the sauce and serve.

This was Hubby's birthday cake. It is an altered and adjusted version of the dark chocolate cake I grew up with, and it came out wonderfully. I was experimenting with making candied orange peel, so the peels themselves and the syrup from making them were used. Two additional oranges were slaughtered in the making of this cake, both semi-blood oranges. This is also one of the most elaborate cake decorations I've tried, and I was quite pleased with it. Ingredients: For the cake: 1/2 c butter 1/2 + 2 tbsp sunflower seed oil 6 tbsp cacao powder 1 1/4- 1 1/2 c orange juice 2 c flour 1 tsp baking soda 2 c sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 c sour milk (milk + 1 tsp vinegar) 2 eggs 2 tsp dried orange peel For the frosting: 1/3 c soft butter 1/3 c cream cheese 1/4 c powdered sugar 1/2 c (or more) cacao powder 1 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp cloves 1/2 tsp Aloha Chilli Spiced Cacao 1/2 c orange syrup (or orange juice and increase the amount of powdered sugar to taste) 1/4 c milk 1 Tbsp orange zest Slices of candied orange peel (optional) 1) Melt butter in a small saucepan with oil, cacao and orange juice. 2) Mix dry ingredients, then gradually add milk, vanilla and eggs. Stir in the chocolate mix. 3) Prepare two cake pans and pour the batter into them. Bake 25-30 minutes at 165°C. 4) Cream together the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat in the other ingredients, taste testing regularly and adjusting accordingly. If necessary, add a little more orange juice, or some milk for creaminess. Adjust spicing to taste too! 5) Allow both halves of the cake to cool thoroughly before frosting. Sprinkle with orange zest and candied orange slices. Optionally, boil a few orange slices in a syrup until the water cooks off and they begin to caramelise, and arrange on top or the cake. Rich and sweet, both the chocolate and orange came through. This cake was very tasty, and I am glad I already had started on the candied orange peel as the syrup really added to the frosting, and the candied pieces themselves really added to the cake. It was Little Bit's first time trying chocolate cake, and he was a bit disappointed originally that I was offering him this instead of a rice cake (the only other cake he's ever had). He was quickly converted though! Happy Birthday Hubby!

I was a little more nervous of trying my hand at making mozzarella for the first time than either the mascarpone or the ricotta for some reason. Making mozzarella involves melting and then stretching curds, and I suppose that it was this extra step that made me a little less certain of myself. It also felt a little more like "proper" cheese as this was the first one that involved the use of rennet. Why this should be the defining factor, I don't know, but making this it felt like I was stepping over a threshold. The process started out well, but in the curdling stage, my curds didn't set into as much of a jelly like texture as the picture in the instructions suggested that it should. I therefore left the curds to set for a little longer before straining them. The other part I wasn't sure about was the stretching of the curds. I did it until they felt smooth, as instructed. Even with rubber gloves on, this was a rather warm process (the curds are immersed in 70°C water). I am used to working with rubber gloves at work, but I managed to buy some with little round grips on the thumb and fingers which altered my sensation of touch considerably, which was irritating. Anyway, I stretched and folded the curds until I though I had achieved what I was directed to achieve and them let them sit in cold water for a quarter hour. The result was disappointing but not bad for a first attempt. The balls of cheese were a bit on the tough side and a little bland, but at least on par with the cheaper store bought stuff. I wonder if I over stretched them in my anxiety to get it right, or if I over melted the curds before stretching them? I will try again soon and attempt to be gentler on the curds, and will then report back on the results. As the mozzarella wasn't the best snacking cheese, I decided to use it melty-ways, and made puff pastry pockets with mozzarella, dates, and the remainder of my beet and pomelo sauce pulled from the freezer for the occasion. They were beautiful! The mozzarella melted to perfection and played well with the other flavours. The cheese and puff pastry balanced out the sauce, and the dates added a hint of sweetness. (I know it sounds like an odd combination, but it was truly delightful!). We liked it so much in fact, that the next day I used the rest of the pastry to make faux croissants (wrong dough, but close enough) with more of the sauce and mozzarella, but no dates. The pastry was flaky, the cheese melty and rich and the sauce sweet and tangy. Definitely trying that again in future, although hopefully not because my cheese doesn't improve!

The creation of these is a bit of a saga, so buckle up (or skip straight to the recipe). I have been making snickerdoodles for years and absolutely love them. They are however a little on the greasy side at times. The recipe calls for quite a lot of oil and sometimes the dough can be oozy. I read recently that it is possible to replace the oil in baking with apple sauce, so I decided to try out the substitution on snickerdoodles. I started out keeping the recipe exactly the same, just replacing the oil with apple sauce. It didn't create a dough but rather a thick batter though, so I added flour. Worried that I was turning them into bricks (I didn't realise that apple sauce is itself a rising agent) I added more of the two rising agents as well to compensate. I rolled the little balls of almost-dough in cinnamon sugar and baked them as per normal. What came out of the oven had risen very well and had a light fluffy texture that was more cake like than resembling any cookie I have ever had. The flavour was also a little washed out. SO I went back to the bowl and added a little more vanilla and some cinnamon and then baked them in muffin cups instead. The texture was excellent, somewhere between a muffin and a cupcake, but the flavour was still not there. Having only made 4 cookies and 2 muffins, I put the rest of the dough away and left it for the morrow. On the morrow, I tried adding a little lime juice, thinking that the acidity would help accentuate other flavours and fix the washed out seeming flavour of the muffin. It was good, but still missing something. I tried a smidge of butter smeared across the hot crumb of the muffin and that did it. It fixed the flavour. What had been missing was the richness that the oil brings. Something else I couldn't fix on this particular batch was the sweetness. The batter was just too sweet for a muffin but it wasn't quite a cupcake. In future iterations I planned to cut the sugar and maybe add some semi blitzed oats to make the texture definitively muffinny. Given that the missing element appeared to be richness, I added a little milk to half the remaining batter. It came out much richer and nicer (due to a teething issue though with Little Bit they stayed in a little too long and so were a little drier. Hard to give a definitive pronouncement under such conditions.) I served it up with some of my home made mascarpone and a little quince jelly and they were tasty (and also made me think that I should make sweet scones to put the mascarpone on...) I used the final quarter of the batter by adding a little milk again, as well as a handful of oats and some Aloha Spiced Cacao. They came out beautifully, both in flavour and texture, bar being slightly on the dense side. I served them up with a spread of mascarpone and some cinnamon and more Aloha Spiced Cacao over the top. Scrumptious! Trying to replicate the final batch to double check it, I was a little short of apple sauce, but not much so I went with it anyway, figuring the dough would be less wet. I made the cookie recipe as per usual, just cutting the sugar and adding a little cream and some extra spice to the batter. I also used only 1 egg white instead of 2 full eggs because Hubby used some eggs between my checking for ingredients and then making these a little later. I might try them with the full contingent of eggs next time... As cookies the same thing happened as the first time (it was worth a trial though), but as muffins they were great! I didn't end up adding oats this time, but might another time, but having tried them out on a number of people, I am told they are a success and so ready for posting. Still slightly sweet though, so maybe cut that a little. I am posting what I did though. And so, with no further ado.... Apple Snickerdoodle Muffins! Ingredients: 3/4 c apple sauce (about 2 apples' worth) 1 c sugar (or a little less) 1 tsp baking soda 2 tsp cream of tartar 1 egg white (or two full eggs... oops) 2 1/2 c flour 2 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp Aloha Spiced Cacao 2 tbsp cream 1/4 - 1/2 c milk 1) Beat the apple sauce and the sugar together. Add the other wet ingredients, mixing well, then the other ingredients. 2) Spoon into muffin cups to about 2/3 full. Bake at 180°C for 15 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. These might get a little more tweaking in time, but I am really pleased with these! Little Bit, Hubby and the neighbours approve! They work well on their own, or with butter, mascarpone or jam. They are still a little on the sweet side, and maybe a little dense, but very tasty!

At Thanksgiving, my cousin mentioned making my aunt's Cuban stuffing. It is a bread stuffing which also has nuts and chestnuts in it. I was intrigued, especially given how much he said he enjoyed it, so when we decided to roast a turkey last week, I asked my aunt for the recipe (and have her permission to post it here). I had only ever had my mother's cornbread stuffing until a couple of years ago, and only found out in university that instant stuffing exists. Last autumn I started playing around with another stuffing of my own, my Orange Fenugreek Stuffing, so I was excited to try this other new one. Also, there is my minor love affair with chestnuts to take into account. So anyway, I tried it and loved it! Here it is! Ingredients: 1 onion, chopped 1/3 c butter 1/2 head of garlic, chopped 2 celery sticks, chopped 500 g whole chestnuts, peeled (given the season, I used frozen) 1/4 walnuts, chopped (or other nuts) 250 - 500g bacon, chopped 1 loaf of bread, cubed 1/2 c raisins, chopped 1 - 1 1/2 c milk 2 tsp cumin 2 tsp coriander powder 1 tsp oregano Salt and pepper to taste A splash of white wine 1) In a heavy skillet, melt the butter and sauté the onions over low heat until soft. Add garlic and celery. 2) Place bread cubes in a large mixing bowl and add just enough milk to coat the bread. Set aside. 3) Add bacon, raisins, walnuts to the onions and garlic and stir. Add a splash of wine to deglaze the pan as necessary. Continue to cook over low heat. 4) Allow to cook for a few minutes, then add the chestnuts and stir. Cook for a few more minutes. Add spices and oregano. 5) Add the onions, bacon, chestnut mix to the bread and mix well. Deglaze the pan again with a little wine and add these juices to the bread mix. Stir. 6) Either stuff the turkey with the mix, or in an oven proof dish cook at 180°C for 35-40 minutes until the top is a little browned and the chestnuts are cooked. I really enjoyed this stuffing! My aunt's recipe called for Sazon, but being in Switzerland, that was not available so I replaced and substituted as best I could, but there was probably still a flavour missing. I also switched to bacon from ham as that is what I had on hand. The quantities were a bit of guess work. She says that in Cuba there is a saying. You add a little of this and a little of that until your ancestors say "enough, dear". That is what I tried to do, but matters are a little complicated when you haven't had the thing you are trying to get to before. I would recommend parboiling the chestnuts before adding to the stuffing. I didn't do that here, and they took longer to cook than anything else. It probably wasn't the same as hers, and at some point I'd love to get the chance to make it with her, but in the mean time, this will do. I was also quite pleased and reassured when my husband walked into the kitchen and declared that it smelled like Cuban food, so I must have done something right. It was tasty on its own the first night as a side for the turkey, heated up well for leftovers, and went very well on top of my Turkey Pot Pie. I highly recommend this.

Späztle is another traditional Swiss and German food that I grew up with. They are a cross between mini dumplings and a form of pasta. To make them, an eggy batter is dropped through the holes of a colander or a specialised grater into boiling water. They can then be served as is, sautéed in butter, or baked with something else. I often sauté them in butter until brown and slightly crispy on the outside while still soft on the inside and serve them up with Rotkohl and sausages or roast chicken and veg, for example. Left over spätzle goes very nicely fried up with eggs for breakfast. In this case though, I cooked them in another traditional dish, Käsespätzle, where they are mixed with grated cheese and baked, preferably until crispy. I also added a couple of simple twists to the recipe. While travelling to Ticino in the autumn, we had lighter, fluffier spätzle than I had ever had. To try to emulate this, I added some baking powder to my regular recipe. The results were spot on and very tasty with a satisfying mouth-feel. I also sliced some apple over the top which then roasted with the Käsespàtzle. It would work well with bacon too. Ingredients: 3 c flour 3 eggs 1/2 tsp (at least) freshly grated nutmeg 1 1/2 c milk 1 tsp (generous) baking powder 2 c spinach (or 2 large cubes of frozen spinach) 1 apple, sliced 150g cheese - I used left over raclette, but really the choice is yours 1 tbsp butter Salt and pepper to taste Optional: sliced tomato and onion as toppings, bacon bits to be mixed in. 1) Mix the dry ingredients together. Add the eggs and whisk. Add the milk and mix. 2) Bring a pot of salted water to the boil. Place the spätzle grater* over it and spoon in a couple of dollops of batter. If it is too runny, whisk in a little more flour before proceeding. If too stiff, a little more milk. 3) As soon as the drops puff up and float to the surface, fish them out with a slotted spoon and drain them well. At this point, you can either sauté the spätzle in butter and serve them up, or you can carry on to make the Käsespätzle. 4) Melt butter in the bottom of an oven proof dish (I like to use a shallow one so that more of the spätzle get a little browned. Toss the spätzle in the melted butter briefly to coat, allowing a few to begin to brown, then add the other ingredients and mix well. 5) Place in the oven at 180°C and bake 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and there is some crisping on the top and sides of the dish. Serve on its own or as a side, with mustard, hot sauce, mayo... So tasty and satisfying! An excellent comfort food dish for a winter evening. I haven't made this variant of a spätzle dish in ages, despite making spätzle at least once a month and am so glad I pulled this one back out! It was a hit with everyone, including Little Bit and I think I might have to make this more regularly. * This is an affiliate link to help you find what you need to make the recipe. You will not be charged any more by using this link but you will be helping support more delicious recipes! .