Ingredients:
– 500g stale bread, cut into small pieces
– 1 onion, finely chopped
– 100g butter
– 3 eggs
– 100g flour
– 100ml milk
– 100g grated Parmesan
– Salt and pepper to taste
– Optional: ham, , cheese, or mushrooms
Instructions:
1. In a large bowl, soak the bread in water for 10-15 minutes until it absorbs the liquid and becomes soft and moist. Then squeeze out the excess water and transfer the bread to a new bowl.
2. Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat and sauté the chopped onion until it becomes translucent and fragrant. Then add the onion and melted butter to the bread mixture and mix well.
3. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and add them to the bread mixture, together with the flour, milk, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. Mix all the ingredients until they form a sticky and homogeneous dough.
4. Optionally, you can add some diced ham, speck, mushrooms, or cheese to the dough to add some flavor and texture.
5. Using your hands, shape the dough into small balls or dumplings, about the size of a golf ball. Make sure to compact the dough and compress it well, so the dumplings don’t fall apart when cooked.
6. In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil and add the dumplings gently. Make sure not to overcrowd the pot, as the dumplings will expand during cooking. Lower the heat, cover the pot with a lid, and let the dumplings simmer for about 20 minutes until they float to the surface and are cooked through.
7. Using a slotted spoon, remove the dumplings from the pot and drain them well. You can serve them right away with a meat-based sauce or as a side dish to a vegetable soup.
Canederli is a perfect dish for colder days, and it can be adapted to different tastes and preferences. For a vegetarian version, you can replace the meat-based sauce with a mushroom or tomato sauce, or complement the dumplings with sautéed spinach or kale. You can also experiment with different types of bread, depending on what you have on hand, such as rye, whole-grain, or sourdough bread.
In conclusion, prepare canederli is not complicated and requires only a few ingredients, but it can be a filling and delicious meal. Don’t be intimidated by the size of the dumplings, give them a try, and enjoy the taste of a classic Alpine comfort food!