Country 10: Austria - Kärntner Kasnudeln

Finally, a country I have actually been to and spent longer than 10 hours in! My partner and I had a trip to Austria in February 2019 as a combined birthday for us both (and by that, I mean it was a birthday present to me, but we went over the weekend that it was his birthday). It was only a long weekend, and we actually spent two nights in Italy, one night in Germany, and one night in Austria, but I still feel like it counts.

One thing that I am finding a little difficult with this project is that all of the dishes I am cooking seem to be missing something. I think it might be a salad, or vegetables, or something like that. More often than not, I have a feeling that most of the dishes should be served with something meaty, and the meal I cook is a dish that accompanies a meat dish. There was one Austrian dish that I found that bragged it was "perfect with beef goulash." Obviously these sort of meals don't work for me, as I'm not going to make the goulash to go along with it, which makes my decision making a bit trickier.

Austria is divided into nine different states, or regions. Each region has its own culinary distinctions and specialties. For example, in the northern regions, asparagus is grown in abundance, whereas in the southern region Styria, the pumpkin seed reigns supreme, and in Carinthia the honey is supposedly spectacular.

The dish I cooked for Austria is called Kärntner Kasnudeln and is originally from Carinthia, the southernmost region of the country, sharing a border with Italy and Slovenia. Because of its proximity to Italy, the food in this region is somewhat similar to Italian food. When I was describing what I was going to be making to my friend, I said it sounded like Austrian-style ravioli, which is pretty much exactly what it is.

Kärntner Kasnudeln is also called Corinthian noodles, and can come in various ways, from stuffed with potatoes and curd cheese (like the ones I cooked below), but alternatives include a meat filling, mushrooms, or even a sweet variety filled with apple and cinnamon. A distinctive feature of the noodles is the crimped edges. I used a fork with mine, but I think that traditionally they are supposed to be rolled somehow. There's an old Carinthian proverb saying that the women of the region are only ready to marry when they are able to crimp the edges of the noodles perfectly.

When making this dish, I was incredibly sceptical. The photo above made me think it looked like something awful, and I wasn't very impressed. However, I persevered and actually at one point I decided to just give the filling mixture a try. It was surprisingly tasty! I really believed that it was going to be awful, another one of those horrible dishes that were a lot of effort for nothing (I'm definitely thinking of my Andorra meal!) 

By far, the most impressive part of this dish for me was making the noodles. I've made pasta from scratch only once before when I was in university. I worked at a restaurant and became close with one of the chefs. There was one day where I was over at her flat and she decided we would make pasta from scratch (because you know, that's what chefs do in their spare time). She gave me the task of making the dough while she made the rest of the meal. I felt I was kneading that dough for hours, but it was probably more like 20 minutes.

I've been excited to make my own pasta for this project so it was great to finally be able to do it - although I was certainly surprised it came up for Austria as I anticipated not getting to it until Italy. And you know what, it turned out pretty bloody brilliantly. It was simple to make, rolled out thinly, was easy to work with and was tasty when cooked as well! Nothing at all like the pastry for my Argentinian empanadas.  Plus, once I'd crimped the pasta all together I thought they were absolutely adorable. It was tedious work to cut all the circles out individually and crimp each piece together, but I thought the end result was at least aesthetically worth it. 

The final product was... fine. The pasta was excellent, but I found the stuffing to be a bit bland. Maybe it needed more salt and pepper, but actually I think when I added some lemon juice and garlic to the butter sauce, it was much tastier.

 

Kärntner Kasnudeln - Corinthian Noodles
Serves 4 people

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 400g flour
• 150mL water (more as required)
• 1 egg

For the filling:

• 50g onions
• 100g bread, lightly toasted
• 200mL milk
• 250g quark / curd cheese
• 100g potatoes, mashed
• 50g butter
• 2 tablespoons fresh herbs, chopped (typically mint and chervil is used but I used mint and parsley)
• Salt and pepper

For the garnish

• 80g butter, melted
• Chives, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped (optional)

Instructions

1. To make the noodle dough, knead the flour, egg and water until you have a smooth dough. Place into a lightly oiled bowl and turn to ensure fully coated in oil. Leave to stand for 20 minutes. 
2. Chop the onion finely and lightly fry in a pan over medium heat. Leave to cool.
3. Cut the toast into small square cubes, cover with milk and gradually stir in the quark. Mash the potatoes with the butter, and add to the bread mix with the onions. Season with salt and pepper and mix everything together.
4. Roll out the dough onto a floured surface to the thickness of about 2-3mm. Cut out approximately 8cm round slices. Place a little filling in the middle of each circle and cover with another piece of noodle. 
5. Press the edges firmly together. Traditionally, one would crimp the edges with their hands but use a fork if it's easier. Ensure that you crimp them together enough to ensure the pockets do not open during cooking.
6. Cook the noodles in boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain and pour over melted butter, lemon juice and garlic (if using). Serve garnished with chives.