Pasta Gratin with Egg & Milk

A German Nudelauflauf bound with an egg-milk custard — no béchamel, no ham. Celery flavours the base in big chunks you lift back out, hidden zucchini and carrot stay in. One pot plus the steam oven, about 45 minutes, for 5 adults.

Updated 2026-06-25 · v1 · pasta / vegetarian

One pot + steam oven · ~45 min · serves 5 adults · a German Nudelauflauf Bound with an egg-milk custard — no béchamel, no ham. Celery flavours the base in big chunks you lift back out; hidden zucchini and carrot stay in. No onion/garlic.

Ingredients

• 400 g short pasta (penne, fusilli or macaroni)
• 3 eggs
• 600 ml milk
• scant ½ tsp Johannisbrotkernmehl (locust bean gum) (optional — firms it up with fewer eggs)
• 4 celery stalks, cut in big chunks (removable — see step 2)
• 1 medium zucchini, grated (hidden)
• 1 carrot, grated (hidden)
• 1 tbsp butter (for the celery) + a little for the dish
• 120 g cheddar, grated
• 30 g parmesan, grated
• pinch nutmeg
• ½ tsp salt + pepper, to finish
• 1 head broccoli + 3 carrots (to steam alongside)

Method — by station

Boil the pasta and steep the celery on the hob — the chunks flavour the butter, then you lift them out. The egg-milk sets the whole thing in the steam oven, then a hot dry blast browns the top. The side veg steam during the gentle setting phase. Cook unsalted; the kids and baby eat from the pot first, then salt the adults’ share.

🍳 On the hob — one pot

Boil the pasta (~8 min · medium-high heat)

1. Boil the pasta in salted water until just under done — 1–2 min less than the packet (it finishes in the oven). Drain.

Steep the celery, then the hidden veg (~10 min · low heat)

2. In the same pot, melt 1 tbsp butter over low heat; add the celery chunks, cover, and soften ~6 min to flavour the butter. Lift the chunks out and discard (or keep for the adults). Add the zucchini and carrot to the same butter, ~4 min, until soft and the moisture has cooked off. (Drying them stops a watery gratin.)

🥣 In a bowl

3. If using the Johannisbrotkernmehl, whisk it into the cold milk until lump-free. Then beat in the eggs, cheddar, nutmeg and a little pepper. (No salt yet.)
4. Stir in the drained pasta and the softened veg.

🍱 Baby’s portion first

5. Butter a small ramekin; spoon in a baby-sized scoop of the unsalted, parmesan-free mix.

🍱 Then salt the rest

6. Stir ½ tsp salt into the remaining mix. Butter the baking dish, tip it in, level it, scatter the parmesan over the top.

🔥 In the steam oven — phase 1: set

Steam oven — no preheat needed; set it going from cold.

Setting: Dampf · pure steam 100 °C · 100 % humidity · ~20 min

7. Put the gratin dish and the ramekin in, until the custard is just set (a knife comes out clean).
8. Put the broccoli and 3 carrots in to steam at the same time (same mode). Pull the veg and the ramekin when set.

🔥 In the steam oven — phase 2: brown the top

Setting: Combigaren + Heißluft · 200 °C · 10 % humidity · ~10 min

9. Switch the gratin alone to this mode until the top is golden.

🍱 To assemble

10. Cool a little, cut into portions, box each with the steamed broccoli and carrots. Don’t forget your work portion.

Notes

• The crust softens overnight, like all the baked tops here. The cook’s own portion that evening gets it crispest; the reheated lunches are softer but still good — a short Combigaren + Heißluft blast at reheat re-firms it.
• Reheat: steam oven, lid off — Dampf 100 °C ~12 min, or Combigaren ~130 °C if you want the top firmer. Keeps 3 days.
• Totally invisible veg: stick-blend the zucchini and carrot into the milk before adding the eggs.
• Johannisbrotkernmehl: a scant ½ tsp is enough — too much turns it gummy. Always whisk it into cold milk first; it thickens as the custard heats in the oven, so you can drop to 3 eggs and still get a clean set.
• Green of the week: fold 60 g peas or chopped spinach in with the veg.

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