Friday, January 16, 2009

Knödel

This is what Bavarian people do when they have some old bread at home, they make knödel.

Knödel is a Bavarian type of dumpling usually eaten with beef-roast and sauerkraut. But if you ask me it can definitely be a great replacement for potato and rice in many other dishes.

Usually bread rolls (Semmel) are used when making knödel but I think any kind of yeast bread should work. I used bread rolls and pretzel-style rolls and it worked excellent. Bread rolls should be about 2 days old, but not stone-hard dry.

Knödel
8 small knödels
4 bread rolls (300gr)
2 dl milk
2 eggs
1 medium onion
2 tbsp chopped parsley
salt and pepper



Cut the bread rolls in thin slices. Heat the milk and pour over the bread, let sit for 20 minutes. In the mean time dice finely the onion and fry in some oil on the low temperature until glossy, it should not get brown. Add onions, eggs, parsley, salt and pepper to the soaked bread and blend everything well, but not too much, it should not be like a smooth paste, it is ok if some pieces of bread are still a bit dry.


Form round balls, the size you like. I formed eight small knödels (see above), but usually they are bigger, something like tennis balls. Boil water and some salt in a big casserole (just like you would do for pasta). As soon as the water boils take the casserole off the cooker, put the knödels inside and put the lid on.

Let the knödels steep in the hot water for 15 minutes. If you have made bigger size knödels then you should let them steep longer. It is important that the knödels are just steeping in the water and not boiling. Serve immediately, or keep in the hot water until ready to serve, but not longer than 30 minutes.

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