The dumpling is the undisputed national dish of South Tyrol and is synonymous with the traditional rural cuisine of the Alpine region. It comes in all sizes, shapes and variations. Well-known are, for example, the cheese dumpling with melted butter and Parmesan cheese, the bacon dumpling in meat broth or the apricot dumpling as a dreamy dessert.
Another variation is the spinach dumpling, which goes particularly well with a summery leaf salad. We have a quick recipe for you and a few tips to make your spinach dumplings a culinary highlight.
You need the following ingredients:
250 g Dumpling bread
200 ml milk
800 g fresh spinach leaves
1 Onion
1 Garlic clove
150 g Flour
70 g Grated mountain cheese
60 g Ricotta
2 Eggs
Nutmeg
Pepper
Salt
120 g Butter
And this is how the preparation goes:
Place the dumpling bread in a large bowl and pour lukewarm milk over it. Let the whole thing steep for about 10 to 15 minutes.
In the meantime, wash the fresh spinach thoroughly and chop coarsely. Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic.
Heat some oil in a pan and sauté the diced onion and garlic for about five minutes. Then add the spinach and sauté until it has collapsed. Allow the spinach to cool before mixing it into the softened bread.
Add the eggs, ricotta, grated mountain cheese and flour to the mixture and work into a dumpling dough with your hands. Season well with salt, pepper and nutmeg and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
Now form the dough into dumplings with your hands and leave them in a large pot of boiling salted water for about 5 minutes. In the meantime, melt the butter in a small saucepan or let it brown slightly to taste.
Die fertigen Knödel schwimmen an die Oberfläche sobald sie gar sind und können mit der Schaumkelle herausgenommen und gut abgetropft werden.
Immediately arrange the finished South Tyrolean spinach dumplings on plates, pour over the (brown) butter and serve.
Last but not least, we have a few tips to ensure that your dumplings are sure to succeed:
- To shape the dumplings, moisten your hands well with cold water, otherwise the dumpling dough will stick to the palm of your hand.
- Press the dumpling mixture very firmly together. Before you put the dumpling into the water, it must be smooth and round. If it is cracked, the cooking water can penetrate the inside of the dumpling and it will fall apart. To ensure that the dumplings keep their shape well, you should lightly dust them with a little flour after shaping.
- You should always pre-cook a test dumpling. If it falls apart during cooking, add some more flour or dumpling bread to the dough.
- You should always add a little salt to the cooking water or, for hearty dumplings, stock.
- Always put the dumpling in boiling water and then reduce the temperature so that it can cook in the hot water.
And if you want to do it quickly: We also have ready-made spinach dumplings in our range.
We wish you a good appetite!
