/ Our magazine / Canederli, the best bread dumplings from South Tyrol.
/ Our magazine / Canederli, the best bread dumplings from South Tyrol.
Have you ever heard of canederli, also affectionately called “bread balls”? Well, if you have never heard of them and never tasted them, it’s a real shame because they are truly delicious! Canederli are a single dish that is very nutritious, a perfect way to use up leftovers to create something good with what is left at home, which is why they are the perfect recipe to reinvent bread, cold cuts, cheeses, or leftover vegetables from lunches and parties. Today, we will talk about canederli, discovering their history and presenting not only the original recipe but also some tasty variations.
Put on your apron, let’s get started!
Canederli, whose name derives from the German “Knödel”, which in turn originates from knot, dumpling, are a typical dish of South Tyrolean cuisine and are also widely consumed in northern Italy and some Eastern European countries. This dish has humble origins, probably very ancient. The earliest testimonies of the existence of canederli can be observed in a series of frescoes in the Hocheppan Castle in Appiano, near Bolzano, where in one of the paintings, dated 1180, a woman can be seen tending to a pot where canederli are cooking, while tasting one with her hand, which is why this woman in the painting has been nicknamed the “Knödelesserin”, or the canederli eater (a nickname you might want to adopt after tasting them).
But how were canederli born? Clearly, when it comes to such ancient preparations, we can only rely on legends. According to the most credible one, one day the mercenary soldiers of the Landsknechten arrived at a South Tyrolean farm and threatened the innkeeper to set the house on fire if the women, the wife, and the daughters, did not immediately prepare something to eat. The girls got to work with the little they had: bread, eggs, speck, milk, and flour. They then formed small dough balls, cooked them in water, and served them. The Landsknechten, all pleased, relaxed and dozed off, so much so that some of them exclaimed, “These cannon balls could bring down even the angriest man.” And so they departed, leaving behind some gold coins as a token of gratitude to the cooks.
The recipe for canederli is a humble, yet very tasty one. It is the typical dish made from leftovers, prepared with what remains in the pantry, thus bread, eggs, and milk, which are always on hand. However, today there are several versions of canederli, from savory ones with cold cuts to those with vegetables, from sweet ones with dried fruit to those with fresh fruit. In short, there is something for everyone’s taste, although for each type the same rule applies: canederli should be cut with a fork and not with a knife!
But first, let’s see the original recipe. To prepare canederli, you will need:
• Stale bread 250 g
• Speck 150 g
• White onions 50 g
• Medium eggs 2
• Whole milk 250 g
• Butter 10 g
• Black pepper to taste
• Parsley to taste
• Chives to taste
• Breadcrumbs only if necessary
First, sauté the finely chopped onion in butter, then add the Speck cut into thin strips for a couple of minutes. Mix the onion and Speck in a bowl with the stale bread cut into cubes, then beat the eggs and add them along with the milk, chopped parsley, and chives. Add pepper and salt to the mixture, remembering that speck and salt are already savory, then mix and let the dough rest for a quarter of an hour. If the dough is too soft and difficult to work with, add breadcrumbs, while if it’s too hard, add a little more milk, without exaggerating.
At this point, wash your hands and start forming balls of about 4-6 cm. Once that is done, you can cook them. If you want to serve the canederli in broth, you can cook them directly in the broth for a quarter of an hour; if you want them with butter, they should be cooked as you would normally cook pasta, in boiling salted water for about 15 minutes on low heat.
This is the traditional recipe for canederli, but nothing prevents you from varying the ingredients. In Trentino, lucanica sausage is also used to flavor the preparation more and, as needed, cheese and cooked ham can also be used, depending on your preferences. Let’s take a look at some delicious variations right away.
• Boiled spinach 200 g
• Stale bread or bread for canederli 150 g
• Onion 60 g
• Milk 50 g
• Parmesan 30 g
• Flour 25 g
• Butter 20 g
• Medium eggs 2
• Garlic clove 1
• Salt 2 g
• Nutmeg, pepper to taste
The procedure is practically the same as seen previously. Boil the spinach and drain well. In a pan, melt the butter and sauté the onion and garlic, then combine the spinach and season, letting rest for 5 minutes. Remove the garlic, then mix the stale bread cut into cubes, the blended spinach, eggs, milk, parmesan, flour, and salt, mixing and letting rest for another quarter of an hour. Once that is done, form the balls and let them rest for about twenty minutes so they can become firmer. At this point, cook for fifteen/twenty minutes in broth or in plenty of salted water.
For cheese lovers, this is perhaps the tastiest version. Cheese canederli are ideal if you have many opened cheeses and want to “clear out” the fridge.
You will need:
• Stale bread diced 300 g
• Fontina (or mixed hard cheeses) 100 g
• Small onion 1
• Breadcrumbs 40 g
• Grated Parmesan 40 g
• Butter 40 g
• Eggs 3
• Parsley 1 bunch
• Chives 1 bunch
• Milk 240 ml
• Salt to taste
Slice the onion and sauté it in butter, then turn off the heat. Add it to the bread and add the beaten eggs, milk, breadcrumbs, parmesan, parsley, and chives, salt and, if you want, some pepper, then mix well with your hands. Let it rest for ten minutes, then moisten your hands and form balls of 6cm in diameter.
Cut the fontina into cubes and place them in the center of the dough, then reshape the balls, ensuring the cheese is well wrapped.
At this point, cook them in broth or boiling water for fifteen minutes.
The last version proposed is that of the sweet canederlo, perfect as a dessert. The base dough is the same. Sweet canederli are mainly prepared with apricots and plums. Today we will see the version with plums, which are good, sweet, and quite affordable.
You will need:
• Type 00 flour 170 g
• Butter 245 g (soft)
• Cream cheese 225 g
• Egg yolks 2
• Unwaxed lemons, zest of ½
• Salt 1 pinch
• Pitted California plums 160
• Toasted breadcrumbs 50 g
• Brown sugar 50 g
• Ground cinnamon 1 scant teaspoon
Mix 45g of soft butter with the egg yolks, cream cheese, and lemon zest. Add the flour and salt and mix well. Work the dough on a work surface until you get a homogeneous mixture, then let it rest in the fridge for an hour.
After the resting time, take the dough and create balls of 60g each. Using your fingers and palm, place a couple of plums in the center and seal by closing the ball. Boil the canederli for a quarter of an hour in salted water, then drain and coat with toasted breadcrumbs flavored with sugar and cinnamon.
Melt the butter until “hazelnut brown”, then pour a spoonful over each canederlo and serve.
Canederli are very versatile. You can eat them in broth, vegetable or meat, but also sautéed or with melted butter. Usually, in restaurants, a trio of canederli is served: just prepare three different types, just like those we’ve proposed, and serve them on an elegant plate. In this case, they are preferably not served in broth but on a flat plate, perhaps accompanied by some sauces. Canederli can simply be covered with melted butter and chives or with melted butter, sage, basil, and grated cheese. Another option could be to serve with a quality classic tomato sauce or with a white mushroom sauce, sautéing them in a pan with oil, white wine, parsley, and speck strips. If you really want to go for the classic, prepare a nice smooth béchamel, without lumps, perhaps a little less dense and well-flavored.
As for what to drink, this dish pairs perfectly with a white wine of medium body, especially if produced in Trentino Alto Adige, to propose a DOC Trentino meal. Otherwise, a good local red wine suitable for the occasion could be Lagrein, with a delicate aroma, or Schiava, a medium-bodied wine ideal especially for canederli with speck and butter.
In any case, to enjoy your canederli, all you need to do is take a look at our portal to find the best ingredients and products to taste canederli like a work of art.
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