Have I ever told you that I love Trentino cuisine? If I haven’t before, now thanks to the Speck Dumplings recipe with South Tyrolean recipe you’ll know! My fondest memories of gorging on Tyrolean Knödel are with my mother; she loved them simple with Trentino speck and served with melted butter and chives. I couldn’t introduce this recipe any other way than how she would have wanted. If you want to read my story about visiting the Christmas Markets with my mother, you can do so by clicking here.
The Canederli or Semmelknödel are common in the Tyrolean alpine zones, the Ladin area and Austrian. In the regional cuisine of South Tyrol, Trentino, Upper Belluno, Friuli, and Upper Valtellina there are many variations of this bread dumplings served with hot broth or melted butter. The name “canederli” comes from the term Knödel common in Tyrol. There are also sweet Knödel variants with various fillings. And there are also variants with potatoes, similar to our classic Grandma’s dumplings on Sunday lunch. Then there is a variant with leavened dough from Czech and Slovak cuisine. And finally, a variant with beef liver meat (which I don’t think I’ll ever try).
Easy and delicious, perfect first course for a family lunch or with friends. You can also serve the version I made years ago of Canederli with pesto and bacon, which are also delicious!
The Trentino Canederli aren’t difficult to make, but the recipe requires some attention and a total rest of one and a half hours, which you must keep in mind if you decide to make the Knödel.
First important thing is the bread! The bread you choose should be left out of the bag and exposed to air to dry for at least a whole day. If you’re lucky enough to find the Kaisersemmel, typical Trentino rolls perfect for this recipe, you’ll make a great impression. They’re small round loaves, and at the supermarket where I work, they’re simply called Kaiser, crunchy outside with a soft heart.
Second important thing: ingredients at room temperature, like milk and eggs. The onion should be white, and the PGI Speck. Remember that it’s the main ingredient of the Trentino Canederli recipe, so spend a few more euros, in my opinion, to add even more taste and flavor to this first course. Remember that the canederli can have a diameter of about 2 to 2.5 inches. They should have the right consistency, neither too hard nor too soft.
Before moving on to the Tyrolean bread dumplings recipe I want to remind you that you can become a follower of the social channels of the blog Le Ricette di Bea by choosing your preferred social.
Here are some other recipes that you can use to serve a dinner with typical dishes from Trentino cuisine and Bavarian cuisine. What are you waiting for, save the recipes or print them with the print button!
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4 people
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall, Winter
- Energy 464.68 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 43.10 (g) of which sugars 3.73 (g)
- Proteins 22.07 (g)
- Fat 23.08 (g) of which saturated 11.20 (g)of which unsaturated 10.82 (g)
- Fibers 4.62 (g)
- Sodium 1,053.21 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 125 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 for 8 Speck Dumplings:
- 3.5 oz speck, diced (in my case, Tyrolean speck)
- 7 oz bread (Kaisersemmel, typical Trentino rolls, are perfect for this recipe)
- 1.4 oz flour
- 1.8 oz white onion
- 1 tbsp chives
- 2 eggs (at room temperature)
- 0.4 cup milk (at room temperature)
- 1.8 oz butter
- Half tsp salt
- 1 pinch pepper
- 2 tbsps flour (for dumplings' breading)
Certainly, the best times to enjoy the Speck Dumplings are Autumn and especially Winter. We used to enjoy them during the days of the Christmas Markets, so I identify it as a perfect Christmas Recipe! When we returned home, we always had a nice stock of speck, only cheese, or with various and different ingredients. Nowadays, there are dumplings for every taste.
Therefore, my advice, and surely my mother’s as well, is to prepare the classic Speck Dumplings in advance and freeze them. Maybe spend an evening with your children at the end of November and prepare a nice stock to place in the freezer. This way, you’ll have them available throughout December. All you need to do is boil the water and melt the butter, and the most famous Tyrolean first course in the World is served!
Tools for PGI Speck Dumplings
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Pan
- 1 Pot
- 1 Knife
- 1 Spoon
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Stove
- 1 Wooden Spoon
- 1 Fork
- 1 Small Bowl
- Food Wrap
- 1 Plate
Steps for Speck Dumpling Recipe:
As mentioned, prepare the ingredients well in advance to make the Trentino Canederli. The day before, place the bread or Kaisersemmel on a kitchen surface to let them air out. You should get stale bread perfect for creating the Knödel.
About an hour before starting the preparation, finely chop the white onion, let it soften in a pan with a knob of butter, then brown it with the PGI South Tyrolean Speck. Let these two ingredients cool to room temperature. Once done, we can proceed with preparing the homemade Tyrolean canederli.
During the cooling time of the speck and onion, we’ll prepare the first part of the canederli mixture. With a knife, cut the bread into cubes on a wooden cutting board. Cubes of the same size will make it easier for us in the following steps of the South Tyrolean canederli recipe.
Take a small bowl, crack the two eggs into it, add half the chopped chives, and half the milk. Sprinkle with salt and a pinch of black pepper; some people also add a pinch of nutmeg; I didn’t. Work it all with a fork for a few moments. The liquids should be incorporated. Once done, take another bowl, this time larger, to place the stale bread cubes. Then add the liquid part we prepared earlier. Work it all gently with your hands, trying not to break the bread cubes excessively. Cover with a cloth or food wrap. Let it rest like this for at least an hour, better two if you have time available.
After this time, we’ll add the 1.4 oz of flour, also add in the sautéed onion with the now-cold speck. Stir everything with your hands or a wooden spoon and cover with transparent wrap. Let the mixture sit for another 30 minutes.
After this second time, you can add, only if necessary, the second dose of milk. It may not be used entirely; it will only serve to work the bread better if it is still too dry. So, if needed, add this ingredient; otherwise, don’t.
After this time, we are ready to create our Trentino bread dumplings. Place the two tablespoons of flour on a small plate; this will be used for the outer breading of the speck dumplings. Then, using your hands, shape balls about 2 to 2.5 inches in diameter. Be gentle; otherwise, they’ll become too hard. I generally place a bit of mixture in one hand and compact it with the other, as if forming sand balls when we’re at the beach. Do you remember the attention and delicacy used to create sand balls? That’s the same you’ll need here. Create 8 bread balls, place them on the plate with flour, and turn them a couple of times.
Now bring salted water to a boil or, if you prefer, bring meat broth or vegetable broth to a boil. We’ve always cooked them in water since we serve them with melted butter. The cooking time for Speck Dumplings is about 15 minutes. During this time, melt the butter in a small pot with two tablespoons of boiling water and add finely chopped chives. Now boil the canederli and drain them. Pour the butter into a serving bowl, add 2 Trentino Knödel per person, and serve them hot and steaming. If you wish, you can sprinkle with grated cheese. I just want to remind you that I’m always here, on my recipe site, with many other good, simple, and economical dishes to prepare. Bon appétit!!!
With Gaia, at lunch, we enjoyed the South Tyrolean Speck Dumplings by adding a nice grating of Aged Cheese with Traminer, delicious!
Preservation of Trentino Speck Dumplings:
You can keep the Speck Knödel raw in the refrigerator, either vacuum-sealed or in a container with a lid. They can also be frozen, still raw, for about a month. If you choose to freeze the Tyrolean speck dumplings, remember to cook them straight from the freezer, in a pot with meat broth or vegetable broth, or in boiling salted water. Do not defrost the Trentino speck dumplings otherwise, they might crumble and break apart.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Do you have questions?
You can write them in the comments below or in the chats of the blog’s social channels. There are many variations of this canederli recipe, of course. From the presence or absence of speck, there are also simple versions without this ingredient. Another variation is the cooking method, in meat broth or vegetable broth. Or in boiling salted water as in my case. You can serve them with melted butter as I did, or just with the cooking broth and some chive bits. Finally, decide whether or not to add a sprinkle of grated cheese at the end of cooking.
Joking a few days ago, while taking these photos, with the fellow food blogger from Cucinatranquilla, I found it amusing that it was September 17th, with 81 degrees, and both of us were dealing with Christmas Recipes at the same exact moment. The life of a food blog also involves this, anticipating times, always trying new recipes, or reproposing the great classics to our dear readers.
