Canederli Tirolesi {Tyrolean Dumplings}
The legend says that one day a group of Lanzichenecchis looters (mercenary soldiers from the 14th century) arrived at a South Tyrolean farm and the commander threatened to set fire to the farm and house if they were not fed immediately. The peasant farm woman was home alone with her daughters and unafraid, she went to work. She told the girls to gather all there was to eat in the house. They managed to get to the table some stale bread, an onion, a few eggs, a bit of bacon and a little flour. The farm woman cut the bread into small pieces and sent her daughters to gather some herbs from the garden and to quickly chop them. She then put it all together like a pasta in a bowl, added salt, formed into balls and threw them in salted boiling water. Determined, the farmer’s wife served the hungry bandits bowls filled with these dumplings. They liked them so much and they gorged so much that after eating, the Lanzichenecchis fell into a deep sleep. And before parting with his troops, the commander gave the cunning peasant a couple of gold coins as a reward.
So began the great fortune of Italian dumplings that still cheer our table and our palates!
- 30 ml (2 T.) corn or vegetable oil
- 100 grs. (3.5 oz.) 2 mms bacon slices or speck, diced
- 100 grs. (3.5 oz.) Hungarian salami or mild salami, diced
- 350 grs. (12 oz) stale bread
- 250 ml (1 c.) milk
- 60 grs. (2 oz.) grated Parmigiano cheese
- 1 egg
- 30 grs. (1/4 c.) flour
- 120 grs. (4 oz.) butter, melted
- 2 lts. (2 qts.) beef broth
- chopped parsley
- Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the bacon and salami for 5 minutes just until slightly crisp.
- Trim the crust of the stale bread, cut it into pieces and soak in milk until absorbed.
- Add the bread to the pan with salami and bacon and cook until the liquid evaporates.
- Cool about 10 minutes.
- Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot.
- Add 30 grs.(1 oz) Parmigiano cheese, flour and egg to the cooled pan with the bread and meat.
- With wet hands form mixture into 12 balls
- Boil the balls in the pot with the boiling broth for 25-30 mins.
- Serve 2 dumplings cut in half, with a generous handful of Parmigiano cheese and melted butter and chopped parsley. In alternative you can serve with 2 ladles of broth and Parmigiano cheese.
Meet Laney Sachs
I’m not just enthusiastic about travel—I live travel, each and every day. From plotting out my clients’ next great escape, to logging airmiles on my own adventures (I always have a suitcase packed and at the ready!), travel drives me in everything I do.
I’ve learned a few things along the way, and I’d love to share them with you. Learn a bit more about my journey to founding my own travel agency—it involves quite a few glasses of Italian wine!
