Main Course

Sarner Älplermagronen

Swiss Alpine Macaroni and Cheese

Quick to make and heavenly: pasta and potatoes baked under a creamy onion and cheese sauce. A vegetarian classic.

In the style of Sarnen, Obwalden
From the Valley EchoSpring 2023
Baked Älplermagronen in a white dish

Zutaten

Ingredients
Portionen · Servings
4

Tick off ingredients as you go.

Nährwerte

Nutrition · per serving

Energy3612 kJ / 865 kcal
Fat46 g
of which saturates28 g
Carbohydrate75 g
of which sugars6.2 g
Fibre7.4 g
Protein35 g
Salt1.4 g

Estimate for the original amounts, per serving. Salt added to taste is not included. Calculated from the Swiss Food Composition Database (V7.1, FSVO).

Zubereitung

Directions
  1. 1

    Peel the potatoes, cut them into small pieces and pre-cook for 15 minutes. Then cook the pasta together with the potatoes until done.

  2. 2

    Peel the onions, cut them into strips and sauté in butter until translucent. Add the cream and stir in a third of the cheese until it melts into a smooth sauce.

  3. 3

    Season the potatoes and pasta with salt and pepper, mix with the remaining cheese and place in a casserole dish. Pour the cheese sauce on top and bake at 160 °C for 10 minutes.

Tipp · Serving

Sweet applesauce goes well with classic Älplermagronen.

En Guete!

Bon appétit · Buon appetito · Bun appetit · Enjoy your meal

First published in the Arizona Swiss Society's Valley Echo newsletter, Spring 2023.

A bit of history

Geschichte

Where Sarner Älplermagronen comes from, gathered from reliable sources such as the Culinary Heritage of Switzerland inventory.

Switzerland Tourism describes Älplermagronen as a kind of gratin of potatoes, macaroni, cheese, cream and onions, with stewed apple on the side. The pasta in it came late to Swiss kitchens. The Culinary Heritage of Switzerland records that the monastery of Disentis bought a press for making macaroni in 1731, but pasta long remained a luxury: in the 1870s barely a quarter of the population knew it. Italian immigration from that decade helped make it popular, it spread widely after the First World War, and by the 1930s it was eaten throughout the country. When Obwalden was guest canton at Zurich's Sechseläuten in 2014, it served Älplermagronen as a specialty of the region.

Sources

  1. Hörnli / Cornettes / Cornetti · Kulinarisches Erbe der Schweiz
  2. Typical Swiss food · Switzerland Tourism
  3. Sechseläuten: Älplermagronen aus Obwalden · Schweizer Bauer