Inspiration for New Year's Eve: Auer Gastronom reveals a recipe for a vegetarian dinner to cook at home

Created: 12/27/2021, 1:00 PM

From: Magdalena Höcherl

Stefan Spitzer serves Bavarian soul food to his guests - also meat-free.

© Spitzer

In the second part of our New Year's Eve special, the kitchen is vegetarian: the hazelnut is the focus of Stefan Spitzer's menu.

Osterwaal

- You can also conjure up festive dishes without meat, nobody knows that as well as Stefan Spitzer, cook and owner of the inn of the same name in the Osterwaal district of Au (gasthaus-spitzer.de).

For his creations - with or without meat - Spitzer uses local, seasonal products and appreciates unusual combinations.

We cook with love, joy and respect for the ingredients.

The result is Bavarian soul food - food for the soul.

In Stefan Spitzer's FT New Year's Eve menu, the focus is on hazelnuts.

“We like to take them because they are versatile and come straight from the Holledau: from Haselnusshof Neumeier in Rudelzhausen.

We rely on regional products from good farmers who make good products - and you can taste that. "

(By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)

As a first course, Spitzer serves a soup made from the aforementioned hazelnut and Jerusalem artichoke.

The tuber is a winter vegetable that can grow in your own garden.

The main course also scores with root vegetables: Here, the regional and seasonal salsify is processed into a creamy risotto and also garnished with hazelnuts.

"The salsify is a misunderstood vegetable, but it is very versatile," explains Spitzer.

His tip: “In the kitchen, you should definitely be a little brave and dare to use supposedly stale products.

You will be rewarded. "

Spitzer also relies on a seasonal classic from home for the dessert, which is easy to prepare: a pumpkin seed parfait with winter spices, plums and frozen yoghurt.

"Pumpkin and pumpkin seeds not only go well with hearty dishes, they are also excellent with desserts," says the cook.

Here, too, the following applies: whoever dares to try new things wins.

The starter: Jerusalem artichoke soup & Holledauer hazelnut

Ingredients for four people: 500 grams of Jerusalem artichoke, 3 shallots, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 liter of vegetable stock, 50 grams of butter, 1 teaspoon of roasted coriander seeds, 150 milliliters of cream, 50 milliliters of white wine (dry), salt, black pepper from the mill.

Preparation (45 minutes): Melt the butter in a saucepan, then sweat the peeled and finely chopped shallots and the finely chopped garlic in it. Add the peeled and diced Jerusalem artichoke and sauté briefly. Deglaze with dry white wine and allow to reduce, then fill up with vegetable stock. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook the Jerusalem artichoke softly over low heat. Meanwhile, cut another tuber of Jerusalem artichoke into thin slices. Then bake in butter fat until crispy and place on kitchen paper.

Chop the hazelnuts and roast them brown in melted butter.

Add the cream to the soup, purée finely with the mixer and then pass through a fine sieve.

Before serving, mix the hot soup again with the magic wand and pour it into hot plates.

Garnish the soup with Jerusalem artichoke chips before serving.

The main course: salsify risotto

Ingredients for four people: 350 grams of black salsify, ½ lemon, 2 shallots, 500 milliliters of vegetable stock, 125 grams of Acquarello risotto rice, 2 tablespoons of butter, 100 milliliters of white wine (dry), parmesan as desired, salt, pepper, 50 grams of Holledauer organic Hazelnut kernels, 2 tablespoons of hazelnut oil, 2 tablespoons of butter, ¼ bunch of chives, nutmeg.

Preparation (30 minutes): It is essential to wear disposable gloves for the black salsify. Wash, clean and peel black salsify. Place in lemon water. Finely dice shallots. Drain the salsify and cut into oblique pieces 2 to 3 centimeters long. Bring the vegetable stock to the boil. Sauté the black salsify and shallots in a saucepan in butter for 1 minute. Add rice and a pinch of salt, deglaze with wine and reduce almost completely.

Add the hot broth and rice to cook for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Gradually pour in the rest of the broth.

The risotto is ready when it is “al dente”.

Let stand for 1 minute.

Add diced butter and parmesan.

Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.

Cut the chives into rolls, add and mix.

Roughly chop the hazelnuts and toast them in butter.

Serve the risotto, decorate with nuts and a few drops of hazelnut oil.

The dessert: Pumpkin seed parfait with stewed plums & frozen yoghurt

Ingredients for six to eight people: For the parfait: 1 double espresso, 150 grams of sugar, 10 egg yolks, 10 tablespoons of rum, 500 grams of cream, 100 grams of pumpkin seeds, 100 grams of sugar, cinnamon, gingerbread spice, star anise. For the roaster: 300 grams of plums, 125 grams of sugar, 1 pinch of cloves (ground), 1 cinnamon stick (small), 2 tablespoons of plum brandy (alternatively apple juice). For the ice cream: 200 grams of cream, 350 grams of whole milk or Greek yogurt, 80 grams of powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Tip: If children are also eating, rum and espresso can be replaced with 80 milliliters of pumpkin seed oil.

Preparation (30 minutes): For the parfait, roast the pumpkin seeds without fat in a pan until they start to burst. Take the kernels out of the pan and add 100 grams of sugar, caramelize. Immediately add the pumpkin seeds and stir gently until almost all of the seeds are coated. Dust with cinnamon and Christmas spices, leave to cool on a baking sheet with baking paper. Saw stiff beating and meanwhile store in the refrigerator.

Beat eggs and sugar until frothy. Add coffee and rum and stir in. Now fold in whipped cream. Roughly chop the pumpkin seeds in a food processor and fold into the parfait mixture. Put in molds and preferably leave to freeze overnight. The roaster: wash the plums, cut them in half and stone them. Mix with 75 grams of sugar, clove, cinnamon and plum brandy in a saucepan, bring to the boil over a mild heat and reduce for 30 minutes, stirring several times. Let the stewed plums cool down a little.

The ice cream: Whip the well-chilled cream until it is semi-stiff or creamy.

Mix the whole milk yoghurt with powdered sugar and lemon juice.

Fold in the cream.

Put the ice in the ice cream maker for around 30 minutes.

To prepare it without an ice cream machine, put the mixture in a freezer-safe container and put it in the freezer for about five hours.

Mix vigorously again and again so that not too many ice crystals develop.

Two or three times in the first hour, then one or two times every hour.

Finally arrange everything together.

Good to know

In the first part of our culinary New Year's Eve special, meat is also on the table: The Freising district farmer has revealed her recipes for a three-course menu - very easy to cook at home.