Spätzle with Creamy Asparagus Sauce

The asparagus season begins with the first spring sun, and it would be a real shame to miss the opportunity to cook something delicious from this wonderful gift of nature. If we don’t pick the asparagus ourselves, we can also buy it at the vegetable market. Asparagus has a characteristic, slightly bitter taste, and above all, it has incredible medicinal and cleansing properties for our body. Here is a recipe for simple pasta with a rich, creamy asparagus sauce that will enchant you with both its color and flavor.

Details

  • Preparation Time: 15 minutes
  • Cooking Time: 20 minutes
  • Difficulty: 1
  • Spiciness: 0
  • Number of Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 1 bouquet Asparagus, fresh

  • 2 dl Water

  • 1 dl Milk, whole milk

  • 1 teaspoon Baking powder

  • 1 spoon Cheese, creamy

  • pieces Oil, olive

  • 100 g Meat, pork, smoked bacon

Vlivanci

  • 250 g Flour, Wheat, bread flour

  • 1.5 dl Water

  • 2 piece Egg, fresh

  • 1 spoon Oil, olive

  • pieces Salt, table

Steps

  1. Clean the asparagus by snapping off the tough, woody ends. Reserve the tender (upper) part of the asparagus for the sauce. Cook the woody ends in 2 dl of water. Let the water cool.

  2. For the spätzle, mix the flour, eggs, oil, salt, and 1.5 dl of the cooled water in which the asparagus was cooked using a hand whisk. You should get a thick batter.

  3. Bring water to a boil in a pot and salt it. To make the spätzle, you’ll need a perforated kitchen tool (spätzle press, colander, potato ricer, sieve, etc.). I used a large slotted spoon (spätzle maker), which every household has in their kitchen.

  4. Place the perforated tool over the pot of gently boiling water and add a bit of the spätzle batter. Use a silicone spatula to press the batter so it drops into the pot in droplets. When the spätzle float to the surface, they are done. Remove them with a slotted spoon and place them in a colander. Repeat the process until you run out of batter. Reserve a bit of the cooking water for the sauce.

  5. Bring the reserved water (2 dl), milk, and baking soda to a boil. Cut the asparagus tips and chop the remaining part into smaller pieces. Add them to the boiling mixture of water, milk, and baking soda. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the asparagus softens. Strain and discard the liquid.

  6. Blend the cooked asparagus into a smooth cream.

  7. Fry the diced bacon until crispy in olive oil. When the bacon is halfway cooked, add the reserved raw asparagus tips and sauté them briefly.

  8. Add the blended asparagus, mascarpone, and enough of the reserved asparagus cooking water to create a smooth, glossy sauce. Toss the spätzle in the sauce and mix well.

  9. Serve the prepared dish on plates. Garnish with fresh asparagus tips and crispy bacon or pancetta cubes.

Nutrition Information (Per 100g)

  • Calories: 177.48 kcal
  • Fat: 7.31 g
    • Saturated Fat: 2.15 g
  • Carbohydrates: 19.21 g
    • Sugars: 0.49 g
  • Protein: 6.34 g
  • Fiber: 1.46 g

Advice

Instead of the water in which the asparagus was cooked, you can use plain water when preparing the dough for the spätzle, but the flavor won’t be as intense. Baking soda helps maintain the beautiful green color of the asparagus. If you don’t have it, simply omit it from the recipe. Instead of bacon/pancetta, you can use leftover ham or prosciutto. If you don’t have wild asparagus, cultivated ones can also be used.