Baked Spaetzl with Sauted Celeriac and Green Apples

Fall and winter are without a doubt the most delicious times of the year. Seriously, I will fight anyone who disagrees. Root veggies and winter squash? All things roasted, stewed, souped, and baked? What is not to love? It’s the time of year where eating something delicious not just warms your body but warms your soul. What’s not to be obsessed about?

I like to cook for the exact same reasons that make me a terrible baker. I like the intuition. “This might taste good” or “Eh…that looks like a good amount of curry” or “This is good, but if I add xyz it might be really good”. Unfortunately this also makes my recipes a bit vague. As The Boyfriend can attest, this also means I sometimes have horrible kitchen failures. The recipe I’m sharing today took many iterations to nail down, but I’ll be darned if I can actually give you good measurements. Sorry guys. I’m still a relatively inexperienced cook. Give some time and I’ll get better. I promise. Use the general guidelines I give though, and it is foolproof. I promise.

So let’s talk spaeztl. Spaeztl is comfort food. These teensy tiny egg dumplings hold up beautifully in soup but I decided to try taking spaetzl beyond soup. This recipe doesn’t use homemade spaetzl. If you make your’s homemade, you’re awesome. Since I was varying all the other ingredients in each iteration, I wanted to keep 1 thing constant. If your store has an international foods section, you’ll probably find a box of dry spaetzl. Otherwise, the pasta aisle should have a box or two. You might just have to look for it.

Without further ado, let’s get to it:

Baked Spaetzl with Sauted Celeriac and Green Apples

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 Box dried spaetzl
• 1 Bulb celeriac (this is celery root, it looks like a giant dirty bulb in the stores)
• 1 green apple (I use Granny Smith)
• 1 Yellow onion
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Gruyere (feel free to get fancy with apple smoked Gruyere)
• 2 Tablespoons horseradish
• 1/4 Teaspoon nutmeg
• Salt and pepper as desired
• Olive oil
• 1/2 Tablespoon – 1 tablespoon butter

Steps:

1. Boil water for your spaetzl and cook to package directions. Drain and set aside.
2. Peel the rough, dirty outside off the celeriac with a paring knife. With a larger knife, cut off the bottom and top ends.
   
3. Chop the celeriac into cubes about 1/2 inch – 3/4 inch thick.
   
4. Heat olive oil in a large fry pan and saute the celeriac until browned and soft. This tough root veggie turns into starchy, slightly peppery pillows not dissimilar to a really tasty potato.
   
5. While celeriac is doing it’s thing in the pan, chop the green apple (peel and all) into similar sized cubes.
   
6. Add apple to the pan just as the celeriac finishes sauteing and cook until the peel begins to get a golden brown color. This just takes a few minutes.
   
7. Take the apple and celeriac out of the pan and set aside on paper towels to drain off excess oil.
8. Wipe out the pan.
   
9. Peel and slice your onion, separating the arches.
10. Melt the butter in the pan
11. Caramelize your onions
    
12. While onions are caramelizing, shred your cheese if you haven’t already done so and preheat oven to 400*.
    
13. Combine spaetzl, celeriac, apples, and caramelized onions in a large bowl.
    
14. Add 1 cup of the cheese and mix well.
    
15. Add horseradish and nutmeg and mix well.
16. Add in pepper and/or salt as desired. Again, mix well.
17. Pour all the contents of the bowl into a casserole dish.
18. Use a spoon or spatula to evenly distribute.
    
19. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.
20. Cover with and bake for 25 minutes.
21. Remove foil and bake for an additional five minutes.
22. Serve and enjoy!

*You can also make a day or two ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator.