Spaetzle goes American...are you sure ??

Bob is obsessed with spaetzle ever since we discovered it. He wants me to use it in any dish that would normally use pasta.
We did try it with pesto recently, it was OK but not great. I may need to tweak either the spaetzle or the thickness of the pesto.

Mac and cheese is one of Bob's favorite comfort foods, mine too. It seemed worthwhile to replace the mac (macaroni)  with spaetzle.
While the title of this post assumes mac and cheese is an American creation, I would have guessed it probably originated somewhere in Germany.

Nope it's French !! Here's what wiki had to say:

"Pasta and cheese casseroles have been recorded in cookbooks as early as the 14th century's Liber de Coquina, one of the oldest medieval cookbooks. It is a French dish of parmesan and pasta and was brought to England in the 14th century. A cheese and pasta casserole known as makerouns was recorded in the famous medieval French cookbook The Forme of Cury, which was written in the 14th century.^[7] It was made with fresh, hand-cut pasta which was sandwiched between a mixture of melted butter and cheese."

Now that I am thinking about it  I remember watching French chef extraordinaire, Jacques Pepin, make a version of mac and cheese using five different kinds of cheese, he just used whatever cheese "ends" he had around. They included a brie and some blue cheese !!

I did a similar thing in my version, using the last of a white cheddar and Parmesan, as well as a sharp orange cheddar.

 I decided to add roasted cauliflower too, it pairs well with cheesy sauce.

This recipe is similar to my gourmet mac and cheese.

Spaetzle cheese bake

Ingredients
 2-3 cups roasted cauliflower
1 recipe of spaetzle
1-2 cups grated cheese
1 jar Alfredo Sauce
1/2 cup milk
2-3 tablespoons bread crumbs


1) Preheat oven to 350 F, grease a glass baking dish. I chose to have a thinner layer of mac and cheese so I used a 9 by 13, you could also us a square dish.

2) Roast 2-3 cups cauliflower pieces for  30 to 45 minutes at 350 F.

3) Make one recipe of spaetzle, drain and set aside.

4) In a bowl mix together the Alfredo sauce, milk and grated cheese.

5) Stir in the roasted cauliflower and the spaetzle.

6) Pour into your greased baking dish, top with bread crumb.

7) Bake for 30-40 minutes, allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving, because there is nothing worse than burning the roof of you month on melting cheese !!

8) Serve with a large green salad and hope for leftovers !!

Crab Stuffed Manicotti

 Crab Stuffed Manicotti

 It's crab season !! Actually it has been crab season since November and I am finally getting around to posting about crab :-)

First off, if you are a vegetarian or vegan, you might want to skip this post. I may eventually come up with a vegetarian version of this recipe but for now there may be material coming that is unsuited for those who prefer their food without moving parts.

If you are lucky enough to live near the ocean, the absolute best way to get your crab is fresh off the boat. We are that lucky and receive emails whenever Frank has crabs to sell at the harbor.

They are truly amazing and we love supporting local fisherman. The only hard part for some folks is that you have to kill the crabs yourself. There are those who prefer to toss them into the boiling water whole...we have found that the meat is sweeter if you kill and clean them first, then steam them.

YouTube has lots of videos of how to go about it. I won't go into those details now.

Once you have cleaned them, steam them for 12 minutes.
Buy extra, eat all you can freshly steamed with crusty French bread and a salad !! Use the leftover crab for this recipe, that's what we did.

Or you can buy them cooked and cracked from most local markets. Be sure they are fresh NOT frozen.
I know taking the meat out of the shells is a hassle but well worth it when it comes to flavor. Get someone you like to help you or put on some good music ;-)

As a last resort you can buy it already removed from the shell, it is much more expensive. 
I have an aversion to canned crab, enough said.

Crab Stuffed Manicotti

Ingredients

• 1 box manicotti pasta (about 12-14 shells)
• 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1 pound crabmeat
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic granules
• 1 jar Alfredo sauce

Here is how they keep the pasta from breaking in the package.

1) Preheat the oven to 350 F, if you are going to bake the manicotti right away. You can also make it up ahead and store for a day before cooking it.

2)Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta.

2) While the pasta is cooking, in a large bowl, mix together ricotta, 1/2 cup Parmesan, egg yolk, basil, crab, garlic granules, salt, and pepper.

3) Once the pasta is cooked drained and slightly cooled, fill the tubes with the crab mixture.  It's a bit of a delicate operation as you don't want to tear the tubes.

4)  Place in a buttered baking dish.

5) Cover with Alfredo sauce. I cheat and use the Trader Joe's version, as I find it works very well in this kind of recipe. The original recipe uses a plain white sauce and has you top the dish with more grated Parmesan cheese. Next time I would use bread crumbs as a topping, I just skipped the cheese this time.

You can see the fresh basil plant I also got from Trader Joe's to use in this recipe.

6) Bake uncovered until bubbly and the top is golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. Serve immediately with a big green salad !!

I forgot to take a photo when it came out of the oven. 

Here it is the second day, it makes great leftovers !!

This recipe is NOT low calorie or low fat. There are ways to make it so I am sure. 
I really don't mind rich food, I eat a small portion with a big salad and am very happy !