German · Authentic-ish German
Kasespatzle
672 kcal a serving, against 921 for the traditional version. That is 249 kcal off, or 27%, with 33.8g of protein. Serves 4. 1 hour 10 minutes.
What the traditional version is
Classic Kasespatzle is fat, cheese and onions in harmony: homemade Spatzle (tiny flour-and-egg dumplings), boiled and tossed with a flood of fried onions, then drowned in butter and stacked with mountains of cheese - usually Emmental or Gruyere. The whole lot is baked until molten and blistered, then served bubbling in a heavy pan.
What changed, and what each change costs
300g Gruyere/Emmental to 120g Emmental and 200g cottage cheese
Emmental is the first thing to shrink. Strictly, you should bury the Spatzle under a cheese avalanche, but that's just not going to work here. By cutting the Emmental to a third and stretching with cottage cheese, you keep some stretch and tang without nuking your numbers.
What it costs you. The top will still melt and taste cheesy, but you lose that glorious gooey pull through every forkful. Cottage cheese isn't going to fool anyone who grew up skiing in Austria.
80g butter for 15g olive oil
Frying onions in buckets of butter is decadent and delicious, but it's also the direct route to a blocked artery. I roast the onions in the oven with the tiniest drizzle of oil until they're caramelised, then toss them through the Spatzle.
What it costs you. Roasted onions crisp round the edges instead of going meltingly soft, and you miss out on the buttery back note. It's still onion, just not quite as luxurious.
Whole milk for 0% fat Greek yoghurt in the dough
The dough for Spatzle is usually enriched with full-fat milk. I swap in Greek yoghurt because it binds the flour and eggs, brings a bit of tang, and screws the fat content right down.
What it costs you. You do get a slight tang from the yoghurt, which isn't traditional, but you lose the creamy, milky flavour in the noodles. Still, if anyone notices after half a portion, I'll be amazed.
Keep the flour and eggs the same, raise the salt to make up for lost cheese
No magic swap for flour or eggs here. The only real move is to up the seasoning to keep things lively.
What it costs you. If you oversalt, it'll taste like the North Sea. Taste before you dump it in the oven.
The numbers
| Per serving | Traditional | Lightened |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 921 | 672 |
| Protein | 37.8g | 33.8g |
| Fat | 46.2g | 19.5g |
| Saturated fat | 26.9g | 8.3g |
| Carbohydrate | 87.3g | 88.4g |
| Protein per 100 kcal | 4.1g | 5g |
Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish German prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked.
Allergens. gluten, eggs, milk.
The method is in the book
Look, it's not the full Alpine fantasy. There's less cheese and no river of butter, so it's lighter both in weight and soul. But you still get bouncy dumplings, pockets of cheese and toasted onion - and, actually, you can eat half a plate without instantly passing out. Anyone who tries to tell you cottage cheese is just as good as Gruyere is lying, but they'd probably survive the winter better.
The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish German, along with 54 more. It is not out yet. The swap kit is free in the meantime.