Spaetzle Gratin with Mushrooms and Butternut Squash

I was looking at recipes using spaetzle the other day and came across some for spaetzle gratins.  The German recipes typically had bacon and cheese, sautéed onions and cheese, or spinach and cheese added to the spaetzle.  I came across a French recipe, at least it was written in French, for a spaetzle gratin with mushrooms and pumpkin.  I thought that one sounded interesting so I made sure to remember it.  I didn't find anything like it among the Ukrainian, Hungarian, and other countries that have spaetzle recipes.

Time to add the cheese

Over the weekend I decided I'd make this dish for supper on Monday night.  The first change that was made was substituting butternut squash for the pumpkin.  Why do this?  I had a butternut squash sitting on the counter ready to use.  Other changes were to get the flavor to suit us better.  Like I've said before, recipes are a suggestion or a source of ideas for me.

Ready for the oven

Spaetzle is easy to make and has been detailed here, http://uncletskitchen.blogspot.com/2015/07/venison-rouladen-with-spaetzle.html.  If you don't want to make it yourself, dried spaetzle can be found in the international section of most grocery stores.  We've eaten the dry spaetzle many times and it is fine.  To me, fresh pasta is always better than dried flavor wise but there is nothing wrong with dried pasta.  I still have boxes of dried pasta in the cabinet.

Another interesting issue, to me at least, that came up was the base recipe had the ingredients in grams and centiliters.  I have a good scale and weighed the spaetzle, mushrooms, and butternut squash.  I did a conversion to get the centiliters to ounces for the cream and just eyeballed the grated cheese for the top.

Spaetzle Gratin with Mushrooms and Butternut Squash

24 oz cooked spaetzle, cooled

16 oz mushrooms, sliced 1/4 inch thick

16 oz butternut squash, diced 1/2 inch

7 oz cream

1/4 cup brandy

butter

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup grated Swiss cheese

1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

salt

pepper

garlic powder

nutmeg

Place the cooled spaetzle in a large bowl.  Melt butter in a hot skillet and add the sliced mushrooms then season with salt and pepper.  Once the mushrooms have started to brown and have released some liquid add the brandy.  Mix well and allow the brandy to cook off.  Remove the mushrooms from the skillet and add to the bowl with the spaetzle.  Add some butter to the skillet if necessary and put in the butternut squash then season with nutmeg, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Cook until the squash is soft and there is some brown on parts of them.  Remove from the skillet and add to the spaetzle.  Thoroughly mix the spaetzle, mushrooms, and butternut squash and taste a bite containing all three.   Add any seasoning if needed.  Add the grated Parmesan to the bowl and mix well.  Pour into a 9x13 pan and pour the cream over it then top with the grated Swiss and Cheddar cheeses.  Bake in 350F oven for 30 minutes.  This will serve about 6 people.

Spaetzle Gratin hot from the oven

This would be good as a stand alone dish or as a side with a good spicy Germany sausage.  We had some homemade Mettwurst with it.  I didn't think about it until we were finished but some sauerkraut would have gone good with this to help cut the richness of both the sausage and the gratin.  Since this was the last of my Mettwurst, the rest will be eaten with pork chops or a pork roast.

Spaetzle Gratin, home fermented Sauerkraut, Mettwurst

The other significant changes I made to the base recipe were adding the Parmesan cheese and the cooking method for the squash.  The Parmesan cheese was not in the recipe I'd found but I thought the additional flavor profile would be worth it.  The original recipe, the one that had pumpkin, called for the pumpkin to be steamed then seasoned with nutmeg, salt, and pepper.  Obviously, frying in butter with the seasonings and getting some browning on the squash added more layers of flavor and made the butternut squash shine.

So if you're wanting a gratin for supper but are tired of the same old potatoes au gratin give a spaetzle gratin a try.  Let me know how it turns out.


Uncle T