Trentino dumplings, the recipe in broth

Find out how to prepare Trentino dumplings with our recipe and video recipe. A tasty and genuine dish, excellent in broth.

Trentino dumplings , also called Knödel , are a typical recipe of German and northern Italian cuisine, also widespread in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Slovenia and Poland. It is a sort of large gnocchi, prepared with milk, eggs, speck , stale bread and herbs, and then cooked and seasoned in different ways.

A recipe born almost by chance, that of dumplings with speck, when poor peasant families used the few ingredients they had available to prepare substantial dishes . Usually the best way to enjoy this dish is to serve the dumplings in broth, but they can also be eaten with melted butter, with cheese or in many other ways.

How to prepare the speck dumplings recipe

1. Finely chop the onion and then fry it in butter (alternatively oil).

2. Cut the speck into cubes , brown it too in the pan and let it cool.

3. Cut the stale bread into cubes. Tradition calls for rosettes ( kaisersemmel ) but you can use any bread you want as long as it has a thin crust and plenty of crumbs. Beat the eggs , add the milk , chopped parsley and chives . Then add the bread, cover with a lid and let it soften for at least 1-2 hours.

4. Once the necessary time has passed, add the speck that you previously browned with the onion to the bread and egg mixture. Add the flour, a grating of nutmeg, salt and pepper . With the mixture thus obtained, form balls of about 5 cm in diameter and roll them in the flour. Let them rest for 30 minutes.

5. Cook the bread gnocchi in the meat broth , and when they float to the surface they will be ready (it will take about 10-15 minutes). Serve them in broth or dry . Here's an extra tip that you won't find anywhere: cook the dumplings in one part of the broth and use another to serve them. This way the broth will be nice and clear.

And here is our video recipe to prepare them quickly at home. As you can see, once the resting time is taken out, they are very easy to prepare.

If you liked this recipe, we recommend you also try the spinach dumplings and the cheese dumplings, bringing them all to the table together and thus creating the famous trio of dumplings , one of the most ordered dishes in restaurants and refuges in the area. Those with a sweet tooth won't be able to resist the sweet apricot or plum dumplings!

Conservation

This Tyrolean first course must be enjoyed immediately when the dumplings are cooked. However, if you want to prepare them in advance you can store them raw in the refrigerator for 1 or 2 days . You can also freeze them in the freezer while they are still cooking, spreading them on a tray and transferring them into bags once they have hardened.

Origin and history

Dumplings, or knödel , have their origins in German poor cuisine where they are known as semmelknödel . Although the recipe varies from family to family, in principle stale bread, milk and eggs to which the available ingredients were added cannot be missing. The recipe filed on 8 August 2003 is the most traditional one, based on speck and served in broth.

Although it is difficult to establish with certainty the date of birth of the dish, it is certain that they already existed in 1180 as they appear in a fresco in the castle of Hocheppan , in the province of Bolzano. A legend then tells that in 1300 the landsknechts raided a farm asking to be refreshed. The owner refused so his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The women prepared a frugal dish using the ingredients available and then cooking them in broth.

The troops were so satisfied that they not only spared the women but also gave them gold coins. On that occasion the general apparently exclaimed: "these cannonballs would knock out even the angriest man!" . Today, in addition to being a typical dish of the area, dumplings can boast the title of Traditional Agri-Food Product of the region.