Spaetzle and Cheese - Schickymicky American Mac n Cheese

Marvelous. Made spaetzle one night randomly after someone wanted chicken noodle soup. Seriously, instant hit, it was so indulgent and yummy. Uber comfort food.

Inspired I decided to make one of my all time favorites, spaetzle and cheese. It sparked an instant food obsession in my household as this became our new “adult mac n cheese” favorite.

Bechamel, baby. If that word is involved, get ready for some righteous eats. 

We take this French mother sauce, add it to our German noodles and how we end up with American mac n cheese is beyond me, but that’s what ya get here. ;) Well, that’s what I tell the boys anyway. Lol! Sold!

Spaetzle is one of my favorite noodles and once you make it a few times, you really become a fan. Like an entire batch of these buttered noddles can disappear in an instant, no lie. And they are surprisingly easy to make, so why not go for it?

Last time I made this for our chicken noodle soup, there was literally a squabble/near meltdown when one of the kids felt sure he was being ripped off as his brother devoured bowl after bowl of these noodles in like lightspeed fashion... Until I magically revealed a previously undisclosed gigantic bowl of noodles warming under a dish towel discreetly next to the stove. Disaster averted. Drama instantly abated. It earned fake-mumsy a heartfelt hug. Not today hangry house-monster, not today...

Ah, the power of spare spaetzle. Don’t underestimate it.

And so easy. I have a super inexpensive spaetzle maker I bought on Amazon for less than $12. Honestly, it’s one tool I may not use every day but when I need it, it’s invaluable. Such a timesaver you can literally whip up noodles super fast because you dump your dough right in and just rub it through the sieve-like holes directly over salted boiling water until it’s all used up. Super impressive, useful, efficient tool. 

And pork belly. Gotta have some pork belly. Ok, maybe that’s just us. We always have pork belly on hand since we cure our own bacon. But sky is very much the limit. If you love it, put it in. Lobster or King crab is my man’s favorite jam, for added at-home pandemic luxury. If you can’t go out to eat, do it yo’self, my friends. It’s most rewarding to eat well, feed each other well, when times are suck-ola.

I butter traditional oval oven safe baking dishes for baking and serving. Single serve or family style. You can probably guess why we do single-servings in my house of hungry men. Big ones. Make extra, freezing leftovers if you can’t eat it all.

Spaetzle:

• 2 1\4 c flour
• 1tsp salt
• 1\2 to 1 c water
• 2 large eggs

1. Mixed until firm but slightly tacky dough is achieved. Rough guess at water but if weather is nice, just about 1 c. This part you need to sort out yourself as the water should yield a slightly sticky, tacky dough that almost resembles a heavy batter. If dough is too firm or dry, you will curse me because it won’t be easy to push quickly through your maker or sieve.  
2. Let dough rest 10 minutes to relax a bit before making the noodles.
3. Large pot of salted water to boil. Spaetzle maker over top. The dough ball is a little sticky, right. Wet hands helps a bit. It will fit in the pusher compartment completely so just work it quickly back and forth putting slight pressure as you go to force the dough to push through the holes. They float and puff recognizably when done. 

I had a little butter, olive oil and some warm chicken stock on hand the first time I served them which made them perfect buttery noodles. Kids were crazy for them, like I said. I made 2 batches which is a LOT of noodles for a family of 6, plus more for leftovers regardless of how much your grown man boys think they can eat...

In case you haven’t seen my post for Cheesey Béchamel:

• 2 cups whole milk
• salt, pepper to taste
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 6 tablespoons flour
• 6 tablespoons fresh chives
• 2 1/4 c grated Swiss/Gruyere

1. Make the Béchamel by melting your butter in a non stick skillet on low heat. Let it melt, don't let it brown. As soon as it has melted, add your flour and gently whisk in to incorporate.
2. Add the milk a little at a time so you can incorporate it evenly into the roux. I use a measuring cup, makes pouring a little at a time so much easier. It will be very thick at first but keep adding the milk stirring with a whisk if you have one, until it's all incorporated. It will be smooth and silky. No lumps.
3. Remove from the heat and season your bechamel sauce with salt, pepper to taste.
4. Stir in grated cheese of your choice. I prefer Gruyere or smoked Gouda, which is out of this world yum. Velveeta or American will work just fine. Remember we are doing “American” adult Mac n cheese so this is absolutely allowed and will work beautifully. American cheese has its place, especially here, because it melts smooth and is creamy dreamy as we all know. If you don’t know, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Bake it already:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F or just use your broiler, keeping an eye on it. Everything is cooked so we just need to warm it through and get the top browned.
2. Lastly, just mix your noodles, bechamel and any other goodies gently to incorporate. I also top with a bit of extra grated cheese so it browns and bubbles on top.
3. Bake for about 15 minutes or if using the broiler, stay alert and present. Lol! You just want to warm and brown the tops.

Hong Kong Ham n Cheese - (Whatever. You'll love this.)

Hong Kong Ham n Cheese you say? Well... that's what I call it, so what? Even though I am not at all sure that Hong Kongers actually eat ham and cheese... I make a mental note to check into it.

I saw this concept while watching the Travel Channel about traveling to Italy. An Italian chef was demonstrating this dish with homemade pasta sheets that he cut into squares. I was instantly reminded of ravioli and convinced that I'm about to see an interesting take on a ravioli recipe. What he proceeds to do is to layer cheese, prosciutto onto the "ravioli" square and roll up like an enchilada. He cuts the roll-up in half and stands them upright in a round buttered ramekin.

Thoroughly intrigued, I watched the rest of show, running through a list of the super simple ingredients for the "rosetti" in my head:

• Pasta sheets
• Provolone slices
• Proscuitto slices
• Heavy cream
• salt, pepper

Not only did it look astoundingly simple and super easy to make, but it looked so creamy and delicious, I was pretty sure I'd never think of pasta and cheese the same way again.

Inspired, I try to think of ways to substitute the ingredients I didn't have on hand for my impromptu cooking event. I instantly jump off the couch and rummage through the freezer briefly before unearthing a perfectly frozen block of wonton wrappers, Hong Kong style. I smile to myself. "Oh you clever girl," I say to myself in my mind, a warm knowing building in my gastro-soul. Oh yes, this was gonna work in a spectacularly good sorta way.

My substitutions start to make me giddy as I go through my ingredients and start to gather my goodies for the experiment:

• Wonton wrappers, Hong Kong style = Pasta sheets
• Serrano ham = Prosciutto

Oh Hong Kong!  Just you wait and see how I cross some culinary borders with you.

The ingredients are simple, easy to obtain and I almost always have all of it on hand any given day in my kitchen, except for the fresh pasta sheets.

Believe it or not, I almost always have prosciutto on hand as well, but too impatient to wait or cut it thinly, I grab the next closest, porky thing: my beloved Serrano ham. Serrano ham is Prosciutto's Spanish cousin and I buy it weekly, sliced very thin for the kids subs or quesadillas or salads. Very similar to prosciutto, but slightly sweeter.

Even though I don't have fresh pasta and could make it, I opt for ravioli's ethnic counter part: the humble wonton wrapper. I always have those on hand. Always. I will usually buy several packages at the Asian grocery store and keep them in the freezer until I need them. Tonight, I need them and knowing they defrost fairly quick, I take them out and self-rationalize that 20 minutes or so to wait for them to thaw was really not that long to wait for what I was convinced, would be, a culinary quick meal masterpiece.

Staples, reconfigured and reinterpreted in a comfort food-y kind of way.  My version, compared to the more elaborate Italian version, makes this a super fast throw down kinda family meal.

No matter what the heck you want to call it: Hong Kong Ham n Cheese, Minnesota Mac-n Hotdish, Italian Rosettis.... it will become a go-to. It has such a luscious, unctuous texture and flavor profile that you will seriously be able to con anyone into believing you slaved all day. Trust me.

So let's get on with it, shall we?

What you need:

• Shallow round baking dish or ramekins, buttered
• 1 package of square wonton wrappers, Hong Kong style
• Heavy cream
• salt
• Fresh cracked black pepper
• Sliced Serrano ham (prosciutto, honey or smoked ham, Canadian bacon)
• Provolone slices

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. From here, I did exactly what the Italian dude did, using my substitutions for pasta and ham instead.  I took out a wonton wrapper, layered a piece of sliced provolone on top, layered a piece of sliced ham on top of the provolone, then gently but firmly rolled the whole thing up. I cut each rolled wonton in half.
3. I used 3 inch buttered ramekins and stood each of the wonton halves upright on their ends, repeating the process until I had a fairly tightly packed little ramekin stuffed with stuffed rollups, standing flat on their ends. 
4. Drizzle in enough heavy cream on top of the roll ups until it just comes to the top of the roll ups.
5. Sprinkle salt and cracked black pepper on top to taste.

Bake:

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until the tops are golden and bubbly. 

**To be cautious and avoid a mess, I put the ramekins on a cookie sheet just in case the bubbling cheese bubbles over in the oven.

Now, just go ahead and try your best to wait for them to cool... First of all, the smell of them baking in the oven will have you standing there waiting for them to be done. Secondly, they look absolutely gorgeous. Don't burn your mouth. No lie, you won't be able to resist. I couldn't and they are hot as hell.

But oh boy, make this and tell me how much you love me because you may just think this the coolest thing since Mac n cheese. Just all grown up and beautiful.

Alternative ideas:

The kids in my house love lasagna so as a lure, I thought I might reproduce this recipe using no-cook instant lasagne noodles. I mean, how much easier could that get? Instead of rolling them up and using the pasta sheets or wonton wrappers, go super-freak easy and use lasagna sheets to make a "white" lasagna. I'm doing it this weekend, so I'll know whether my teenage-friendly, insta-mom dinner menu is a success or fail. Either way, I know it will not go to waste. And while not any pickier than other teens, they just like what they like and so I'll make both red and white lasagna for Italian Fest night, which they love anyway. I have great success sneaking in new things when I create the "package" approach. Tutti a tavola a mangiare, as Lydia would say!! lol!

Update: turns out this is one of THE family favorites. It is a regular request, along with our Italian bread and garlic butter. This is their grown up mac n cheese comfort food favorite.