My outer shell is rather simple, a bit of flower, egg, salt, and water, and if you like, a tablespoon of sunflower oil from the gourmet region of Kärnten. But the filling is what it’s all about, a delightful curd cheese and potato filling with real pasta mint.
We get the curd cheese from the Bodnerhof. It’s a small, idyllic farm, nestled in the valley between the gentle Kärntner Nock Mountains. And here, the cows that provide the milk for the cheese are very well looked after – fresh grass, beautifully aromatic meadow hay and wholesome grains. To make the delicious curd cheese for our Kärntner Nudel, farmer Christa first brings skimmed milk to curdle. During this process, the solid components are separated from the liquid. The liquid part is the whey. This is separated by straining the mixture with a cloth. Then, the curds are finely sieved – it sounds complicated, but it’s probably the reason that the curds taste so incredibly delicious.
The tasty curds are then mixed with the boiled potatoes, which grow lavishly in their own garden. A light seasoning of fine salt and pepper, and the filling is almost finished. At the end, the unique pasta mint is added, which gives the Kärntnernudel its authentic taste.
And we haven’t even mentioned its appearance...I am definitely not a mere ravioli, I’m more like the luxury version. My edges are artistically crimped, which means they are artistically pressed together in waves, a technique that not everybody can master. But as they say: “A girl won’t get a husband if she can’t crimp the pasta!”
