caramelized leek and kimchi käsespätzle
my deeply savory twist on the favored german comfort food
this is a recipe i’ve been sitting on for a while. it may have even been one of the first ideas i noted down when i started this newsletter nearly a year ago. for whatever reason, i didn’t actually start fleshing it out and developing it until a few weeks back, when the days got noticeably darker and colder and my comfort food cravings started to take root. as per usual, i went through a few iterations and, ultimately, ended up with a dish that’s close enough to the original to be recognizable but far enough away to make it feel new and exciting.
if you’ve never had käsespätzle, allow me to sum up the versions i love most: chewy, irregularly-shaped egg noodles layered with tons of cheese and buttery caramelized onions, topped with even more caramelized or crispy fried onions and baked until hot and gooey. it’s delicious and i highly recommend it.
my twist takes this already fabulous and delightfully hearty comfort food into a different direction by caramelizing lots of leeks with the onions and then melting down gochujang (korean chili paste), kimchi and garlic into that mixture before layering into a baking dish with cheese and plenty of homemade spätzle.
during development and testing, i tried versions with a roux thickened gochujang and cheese sauce to add a macaroni and cheese vibe but found that instead of adding something to the dish it seemed to take away from it, making it much too rich and overpowering. this final version lets the cheese, spätzle and caramelized leek and kimchi mixture shine equally and makes for a relatively streamlined recipe that doesn’t differ too much in actual execution from the original.
i thought about giving the spätzle themselves something extra by spicing them with gochugaru (korean chili flakes/powder), but decided to nix it because you couldn’t really taste it and i wanted to keep the ingredient list relatively pared back. for that same reason the dish is ends with a simple burnished cheese crust; if you want to go the extra mile, finish the whole thing with crispy fried onions or fried leek tops. for me, the chives could be done away with if you just can’t bother to pick them up at the store but the lemon wedges are an absolute non-negotiable. the little spritz of acid balances the deeply savory richness of this dish and actually serves to highlight the flavors within each bite.
*a quick note on cleaning up: the spätzle dough is very sticky and must be dealt with with cold water only. i recommend rinsing the grater or spätzle maker, spoon and bowl very well with cold water and using your hands (the dough sticks very well to sponges too lol) to remove all the excess dough before washing with hot water or putting in a dishwasher.
serves 4
for the caramelized leeks
2 leeks
2 large yellow or red onions
2 cloves garlic
150 grams kimchi (this is my favorite kimchi recipe but you can also use your go-to local or global brand; i like sempio’s canned kimchi for example, not sponsored!)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon gochujang (if you don’t have gochujang on hand, use tomato paste as a swap but i highly recommend buying a tub for this and other recipes)
black pepper to taste
for the spätzle; can be made up to 3 days ahead and kept covered in the fridge
200 grams all-purpose flour
50 grams semolina flour (you can sub this for more all-purpose if desired, but the texture of the spätzle will be less bouncy/chewy and more soft)
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
100 - 150 ml water (see instructions)
to assemble
200 grams shredded gruyere cheese (you could also stick with classic käsespätzle cheeses like emmental or bergkäse)
minced chives and lemon wedges for serving
trim the very top and root end off the leek. slice in half lengthwise and run the cut side under cold running water, using your fingers to help get the water into the leek and wash out any sand; if the very outer leaf of the leek is extremely dirty or tough feeling, you can remove and discard it. shake or pat dry, then slice into thin pieces. peel and thinly slice the onion and garlic. roughly chop the kimchi. set the garlic and kimchi aside in a separate bowl.
add the olive oil and butter to a large frying pan over medium heat. once the butter has melted, add the leek and onion and season with salt. let cook, stirring occasionally, adding a splash of water or turning the heat to low if needed to prevent burning. we want to really caramelize the leeks and onions to pull out their sweetness and make them really soft and tender which will likely take around 45 minutes. so, keep an eye on the pan and in the meantime start preparing the spätzle.
set a large pot of water over medium-high heat. add the flour, semolina, and salt to a large bowl and mix to combine. make a well in the center and crack in the eggs then use a spoon or spatula to break up the yolks. start to incorporate the flour slowly, stirring it in from the edges, then start to add the water a little bit at a time, mixing everything together really well until you form a thick, sticky dough. when you stir it really hard, you should see the dough ripping away from the sides of the bowl and it should start to fall and break into a V-shape as you pull the spoon up out of the bowl (see this video for reference). you might not use all the water to achieve this texture but you also might need to add a bit more flour or water, so just start slow with the water and see how it progresses. cover with a clean towel and let rest for 10 minutes.
by now the water should be close to or already boiling. season generously with salt (as you would for cooking pasta) and place a cheese grater (smooth side up, grating side down towards the water) or spätzle maker over the pot. spoon some of the sticky dough (about 1/2 cup) on top of the grater and use the spoon to rub the dough through the holes and into the water. you will likely have to rub the spoon over the surface many times to get all the dough through, so take your time and keep the dough pushing through the holes; if you have a spätzle maker, this doesn’t apply, just use it as you usually would. once the spätzle float (they only cook for about 1 minute or so), use a slotted spoon to remove them from the pot and transfer to a large bowl. repeat until all the spätzle are cooked.
preheat the oven to 175°C/350°F and move a rack to the upper middle. at this point, the leeks should be caramelized. they should be very soft and significantly reduced. turn the heat down to low if it’s not there already and add the garlic, kimchi and gochujang. let cook for about 5 minutes more to combine everything and mellow out the garlic slightly. turn off the heat, taste, and season with salt and pepper as needed.
add about one third of the caramelized leek mixture to a baking tin (mine was about 7x10-in./20x27 cm, but you could use an 8x8-in/20x20 cm one instead) then layer in half the spätzle. top with half the remaining caramelized leek mixture and half the shredded gruyere cheese. finish with the remaining spätzle, leek mixture and cheese, then bake until the cheese is completely melted and everything is hot all the way through, about 25 minutes (you can also assemble a day in advance and keep covered in the fridge; bake for about 45 minutes straight from the fridge). turn on the broiler and broil for 5 - 8 minutes to burnish the top. remove and let cool for 5 minutes before topping with minced chives and serving with lemon wedges.