Sigraen's spicy vegetable spaetzle

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 500 g spaetzle, fresh, ready-made or grated yourself.
• 100 g peas, frozen, thawed,
• 100 g carrot(s), peeled, in 4 cm long sticks,
• 100 g leek, washed, in thin rings,
• 100 g red bell pepper(s), washed, pitted, quartered and cut into thin strips,
• 200 g fresh mushrooms, cleaned with a damp kitchen paper
• 2 stalk(s) celery, cleaned, thinly sliced,
• 1 chili pepper(s)
• 2 shallots, peeled, very finely diced,
• 1 garlic clove(s), peeled and very finely diced or pressed,
• 3 tbsp soy sauce, light
• ½ tsp salt
• Pepper (Sichuan pepper)
• 4 tbsp oil (peanut oil)
• 100 g tofu, thinly sliced ​​(for gratinating)
• possibly cheese (Gouda or Emmental), grated

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 30 minutes

Country meets Asia. It’s hot, man! Refined vegetarian dishes. Just as they are, or as a gratin.

Heat the peanut oil in a large, deep frying pan until it’s at the right temperature. It’s at the right temperature when a wooden spoon bubbles up. Briefly fry the shallots, garlic, and chili while stirring. Immediately add the mushrooms, stirring vigorously, and fry until they begin to smell and turn golden brown. If you want to gratinate the dish, preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Then add the remaining vegetables and fry for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly. They should remain crisp! Deglaze with 3 tablespoons of light soy sauce, reduce the heat to low, and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the cooked, cold spaetzle and season again. The residual heat from the pan is usually sufficient to heat the spaetzle very quickly. Now you can fold in the diced tofu. The “Asia” vegetable spaetzle are now ready to serve. Gratin fans layer the dish without tofu cubes in a greased casserole dish and cover it with thin tofu slices or alternatively with grated Gouda or Emmental cheese and bake it in the oven for 20 minutes.