BREAD DUMPLINGS WITH BUTTER
The BREAD DUMPLINGS are a rich and tasty first course from the rural tradition of Trentino Alto Adige, made with stale bread, milk, and eggs to which aromatic herbs, speck, and onion are added.
The DUMPLINGS with SPECK get their name from the German word “knödel” which means lump, precisely because of their consistency and rustic appearance with an irregular, lumpy surface, and they are a kind of large gnocchi.
As with all traditional recipes, there are numerous variations of BREAD DUMPLINGS depending on the region and the family that keeps the secret.
The recipe we’ll prepare today is for TYROLEAN DUMPLINGS with SPECK, given to me by the family that hosts us every year in the mountains in San Cassiano, and we will season them instead of in broth, as the original recipe calls for, with melted butter, sage, and grated Parmesan cheese: the result is an incredibly flavorful rustic dish, ideal to serve as a first course or main course for any family lunch or dinner.
Preparing BREAD DUMPLINGS WITH BUTTER is simple and accessible to everyone. All you need to do is soak the stale bread in warm milk and then mix it with eggs, chopped parsley, and chives, and speck cut into strips, previously sautéed in a pan with a soffritto of onion and melted butter.
Once ready, you just need to shape the mixture into large balls about 2 inches in diameter, cook them in boiling meat broth for a few minutes, and once drained, season them with melted butter and sage.
The result will be flavorful DUMPLINGS that melt in your mouth, compact yet soft, the perfect winter comfort food for Sunday family lunch or a dinner with friends.
Now let’s see how to prepare BREAD DUMPLINGS WITH BUTTER, step by step, with procedure and tips. For more recipes from Trentino Alto Adige, also check out:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 421.31 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 33.04 (g) of which sugars 2.87 (g)
- Proteins 18.97 (g)
- Fat 24.21 (g) of which saturated 13.46 (g)of which unsaturated 10.08 (g)
- Fibers 2.34 (g)
- Sodium 1,274.78 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 150 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 7 oz stale bread
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 eggs (whole)
- 3.5 oz speck
- 1/2 white onion
- 1.5 tbsp butter
- 1 bunch parsley
- to taste chives
- 1 pinch salt
- to taste black pepper (ground)
- 2 cups meat broth (or vegetable)
- 3.5 oz butter
- A few leaves sage
- to taste grated Parmesan cheese
Tools
- Bowl
- Pan
- Pot
Steps
First, take the bread, remove the outer crust, and cut it into cubes. Transfer it to a bowl along with the milk and mix, preferably with your hands (so you can tell if there are any hard pieces left) to absorb the milk and soften the bread. In another bowl, beat the eggs and then add them to the soaked bread. Also, add the chopped chives, chopped parsley, a pinch of salt, and pepper. Mix again with your hands, and if you feel any hard pieces, crumble them and let them soften. Finally, in a pan, melt the butter, add the chopped onion, sauté for 1 minute, then add the speck to flavor for a couple of minutes. Let it cool slightly, then add it to the rest of the mixture and mix with a spoon.
To make the speck dumplings, I recommend wetting your hands with water, then take a piece of the mixture and create balls of dough about 2 inches in diameter, making sure not to leave any holes inside. As you create the DUMPLINGS, place them on a plate or tray. Optionally, to prevent them from breaking while cooking, you can choose to lightly flour them: I prefer not to because I don’t like the taste of flour.
Regardless of how you want to enjoy the Dumplings (in broth or dry), cooking in broth is still necessary, so once ready, immerse them in a pot of boiling meat or vegetable broth and count 10 minutes. After the cooking time has passed, take the dumplings with a slotted spoon and season them with butter melted in a pan flavored with sage leaves and a generous sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese.
NOTES AND TIPS
BREAD: According to the original recipe, dumplings should be made with the typical Tyrolean bread called rosettes (kaisersemmel) that contain a lot of crumb. Alternatively, you can use rustic loaves or Tuscan bread; it is better to avoid hard dough bread as it would dissolve in the milk. Some use the crust, while others prefer to remove part of it, which is a personal taste. If you decide to keep the crust, make sure it has softened well and blends with the rest of the mixture. If you don’t have dry bread but fresh, to get the right consistency, just leave it out of the bread bag for a day so it dries.
MILK: One of the main ingredients for dumplings is stale bread, to soften it, milk is used, but do not overdo the quantity; otherwise, it risks becoming too soggy, making it difficult to achieve the right consistency and shape for the dumplings.
FLOUR: The ORIGINAL South Tyrolean dumpling recipe involves adding a little flour to the mixture, the amount of which varies depending on consistency.
SPECK: You can replace speck with pancetta or the “Lucanica” used in the province of Trento. The original recipe requires that the speck, before being added to the dumpling mixture, is sautéed in butter and not oil, but both methods work fine. Be careful when adding speck to the mixture to ensure it has cooled or, if you want to add it immediately, mix with a spoon instead of your hands to avoid burning.
HOW TO SHAPE DUMPLINGS Shaping dumplings is very easy, it’s like making large meatballs. Before you start, I recommend wetting your hands with a little water. Then take a bit of the mixture and form balls. Another trick for perfect dumplings that don’t break while cooking is to work the mixture with your hands to feel any hard bread pieces that might create holes and cause the dumplings to break once immersed in the broth. Some prefer to lightly flour the dumplings before cooking; I leave that choice to you.
WHAT SIZE SHOULD DUMPLINGS BE: The size of dumplings can be adjusted as you prefer; they usually have a diameter of 2 inches, but you can choose to make them larger or smaller, just not too small; dumplings should be large.
HOW TO SEASON DUMPLINGS: You can prepare dumplings in the classic version, i.e., cooked in boiling meat or vegetable broth but also (always after boiling in broth) enjoy them “dry” and seasoned with melted butter flavored with sage.
STORAGE
TYROLEAN DUMPLINGS with SPECK should be enjoyed immediately while still hot. When they are still raw, they can be stored in the fridge covered with plastic wrap for up to 2 days. Alternatively, you can also freeze them, and they will last for up to 3 months. Then you just need to drop them still frozen directly into boiling broth and cook them for at least 10 minutes.
