Kärntner Kasnudeln

Ingredients

• 300 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1 egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 3 tbsp lukewarm water
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 350 g floury potatoes
• 250 g dry curd cheese or Topfen
• 1 small onion, very finely diced
• 20 g butter
• 1 tbsp brown mint leaves, very finely chopped
• 1 tbsp chervil, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp chives, finely snipped
• 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 80 g butter, for the nut-brown butter

Before you cook

• Peel the potatoes and cut them into even chunks.
• Dice the onion very finely.
• Chop the mint and chervil as finely as you can and snip the chives.
• Press the curd cheese in a sieve to drive off any loose whey.

Steps

1. Mix the flour, egg, egg yolks, water, oil and half teaspoon of salt into a firm dough.
2. Knead the dough hard for 8 minutes, until it is smooth and springs back when pressed.
3. Wrap the dough and rest it at room temperature for 30 minutes.
4. Boil the potatoes in salted water for 18 minutes, until they break apart under a fork.
5. Drain the potatoes and push them through a ricer into a wide bowl to cool.
6. Melt the 20 g of butter in a small pan and soften the diced onion in it for 6 minutes, until translucent but not coloured.
7. Stir the buttery onion into the riced potato.
8. Add the curd cheese, the mint, the chervil, the chives, the nutmeg, the teaspoon of salt and the white pepper, then mix until the filling is smooth and holds its shape.
9. Roll the rested dough out as thin as you dare, no more than 1 mm, and stamp out 10 cm circles.
10. Put a heaped teaspoon of filling slightly off centre on each circle.
11. Fold each circle over into a half-moon and press the edges together, pushing all the air out first.
12. Crimp the sealed edge by pinching a small fold of dough between finger and thumb and rolling it inwards, then repeat all the way round.
13. Bring a wide pot of salted water to a gentle simmer, never a hard boil, or the seams will burst.
14. Slide in half the Kasnudeln and cook them for 7 minutes, until they rise and the dough turns translucent.
15. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and cook the second batch the same way.
16. Melt the 80 g of butter in a small pan over medium heat and let it foam for 3 minutes, until the milk solids turn hazelnut brown and it smells nutty.
17. Arrange the Kasnudeln on warm plates and pour the brown butter over them.