Asparagus on a bed of spaetzle and cream cheese

Ingredients for 3 servings:

• 300 g spaetzle
• 200 g cream cheese
• 100 g arugula
• 1,000 g asparagus (preferably asparagus heads)
• 1 onion(s)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 pinch of salt
• Herb salt, freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 50 minutes; Total time approx. 50 minutes

Peel the asparagus and, if using whole stalks rather than heads, cut the stalks into thirds and place them in a casserole dish with a little liquid in the bottom, a pinch of salt, and a teaspoon of olive oil. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees Celsius (425 degrees Fahrenheit) fan/convection oven and place the casserole dish, covered, in the oven. Leave in the oven until the asparagus is tender enough. Test occasionally with a fork; cooking times vary greatly depending on the oven. In the meantime, finely chop the onion and garlic and fry until translucent with a teaspoon of olive oil. Cook the spaetzle. Add the cream cheese to the pan with the onions and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and stir to create a creamy sauce. When the asparagus is ready, add some of the concentrated asparagus stock from the casserole dish to the sauce (about 3 tablespoons, depending on your preference and taste, and how thick you want the sauce to be). Add the cooked spaetzle to the pan with the cream cheese sauce and stir everything together. Turn off the stovetop. Finely chop the arugula and toss it with the cream cheese spaetzle. Transfer the prepared spaetzle to a large serving platter, leaving a space in the middle. Add the asparagus to the center. A lighter version (compared to hollandaise) for asparagus fans!