Dinner on Deadline: Some good homemade German cooking

We agree with chef Jeremy Nolen of Brauhaus Schmitz in Philadelphia, who says this dish is about "as close as you're going to come to German carbonara." The original recipe calls for homemade spaetzle, which takes about 30 minutes to make, so we used store-bought.

4 servings

Kosher salt

101/2 ounces dried spaetzle

1 clove garlic

2 scallions

4 ounces thinly sliced speck (Italian smoked,

cured ham) or Westphalia ham

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 cup frozen peas (may sub fresh in season)

1/4 cup heavy cream

Leaves from 4 stems curly parsley

Aged Gouda, for serving

1. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add a generous pinch of salt, then stir in the spaetzle. Cook for 25 minutes or according to the package directions.

2. Meanwhile, mince the garlic. Trim the scallions, then chop them. Cut the speck or ham into thin strips.

3. Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the speck or ham and the garlic; cook for about 3 minutes, stirring a few times, until the meat is lightly browned.

4. Stir in the scallions and peas; cook for about 5 minutes or until the light parts of the scallions become translucent.

5. Drain the spaetzle, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking water. Add the cooked spaetzle to the saute pan, along with the cream, stirring to coat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook for 5 minutes, stirring once or twice. Turn off heat.

6. Use some or all of the reserved cooking water to develop the desired consistency of sauce.

7. Coarsely chop the parsley. Grate a small handful of the cheese for each portion.

8. Divide the spaetzle among individual plates. Garnish with the parsley and cheese, and serve.

- Adapted from New German Cooking: Recipes for Classics Revisited (Chronicle, 2015)

Per serving: 420 calories, 16 g protein, 61 g carbohydrates, 12 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 95 mg cholesterol, 640 mg sodium, 3 g dietary fiber, 4 g sugar.