My homemade Knödel. If you browse the blog, you’ll find many recipes with stale bread, which I’ve always used to create other dishes; at home, bread has always been very important, so it was never wasted!
With stale bread, you make fritters, meatballs, cakes, both sweet and savory, and naturally breadcrumbs for breading.
All over Italy, we find some traditional recipes created with stale bread: stuffing for meat and fish, grilled tomatoes.
And at home, I keep cooking my old recipes…
Now I call them Knödel, and I also change the pairings. Once I called them “fake meatballs” because there’s no meat inside, just bread, vegetables, or wild herbs and cheeses, a fridge-cleaning meatball that I used to, and in truth still do, cook in broth, or sauce; a kind of meatball fridge cleaner.
Growing up, I realized that my meatballs in other regions were called Knödel, stuffed with wild herbs, cheese, and speck or other cold cuts.
In Valtellina, they also add mushrooms, giving autumnal aromas, or in South Tyrol with spinach, cheeses, and a little ground meat.
While in Trentino, among the ingredients, we find the typical speck.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 10
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients
Stale bread, milk, eggs, and
- 14 oz breadcrumbs (Or stale bread slices soaked in milk and crumbled.)
- 3.5 oz speck
- 4 eggs
- 10 leaves savoy cabbage
- 150 toma cheese (I used a mountain toma cheese)
- 1.25 cups milk
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
- to taste salt
- 3.2 qt beef broth (I preferably use beef broth, vegetable broth is also fine.)
Tools
A cutting board and a knife to cut and mince, or a food processor, a bowl to mix; a pot for cooking.
- Cutting Boards
- Knives
- Food Processors
Steps
Cut, mix, shape, and cook.
First, prepare each ingredient: the speck cut into strips or small cubes, the cheese diced, the cabbage chopped raw, eggs cracked, which I recommend doing in a separate bowl, to avoid annoying accidents, better to check first.
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well, adjust with the density of the mixture. You should form meatballs the size of a small orange. The bread you use may have different coarseness and moisture; I recommend not too fine bread, the Knödel will remain softer.
Once ready, cook them in boiling broth and serve. They are consumed in broth for a warm meal, or dry, sautéed in a pan with a little butter and small slices of toasted speck, also excellent with a thin layer of fondue and why not, some truffle shavings for a top dish!
Storing the Knödel
Once cooked, they are stored in the refrigerator. It’s also possible to freeze them after shaping them and storing them in small bags, after freezing them individually on a tray covered with parchment paper, and cook them as needed.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Can whole wheat bread be used as well?
I have also prepared them with black bread and they are special!
Can I substitute the speck?
You can substitute speck with prosciutto, salami paste, or sausage.
Can I use plant-based milk?
Yes, of course, plant-based milk can be used. I recommend oat milk, but due to its sweetness, I would also add a pinch of black pepper.
