Bread Dumplings

Ingredients

• 250 g Stale bread
• 250 ml Milk
• 100 g Speck
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 small Onion
• 30 g Butter
• 40 g All-purpose flour
• 40 g Parmesan
• 1 tbsp Parsley
• 1 tbsp Chives
• 1.5 l Beef broth
• 1 pinch Salt
• 1 pinch Black pepper

Steps

1. Cut the stale bread into small cubes and place them in a large bowl.
2. Warm the milk gently, pour it over the bread, and let it soak for about 15 minutes, mixing occasionally with your hands.
3. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan and gently sauté the finely chopped onion until soft and translucent.
4. Add the diced speck and cook for a few minutes.
5. Let it cool slightly.
6. Add the beaten eggs, the speck and onion mixture, the grated Parmesan, the chopped parsley and chives, salt, and pepper to the soaked bread.
7. Sprinkle in the flour and work everything by hand until you obtain a soft, compact, slightly sticky mixture.
8. Let it rest for 15 minutes.
9. With damp hands, shape the mixture into balls about the size of a tangerine.
10. Bring the beef broth to a gentle simmer in a wide pot.
11. Lower the canederli into the simmering broth and cook for about 15 minutes, until they float and are cooked through.
12. Serve the canederli hot in bowls with plenty of broth and a final sprinkle of chopped chives.

Tips

• Use genuinely stale, dense white bread; fresh bread turns the mixture mushy and the canederli will fall apart.
• Test one dumpling first in the simmering broth: if it breaks up, work in a little more flour before shaping the rest.