Canederli in Broth Recipe - Italian Knodel in Broth Recipe (2024)

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How to make Canederli in Beef broth step by step

Instructions for making broth:

Wash, peel and cut the onion, carrots and celery into large chunks (photo 1) and put in a large stock pot. Add the meat (in large chunks) and bones as well. Add one or two bay leaves, a sprig of parsley, a few cloves, black pepper and salt (photo 2).

Cover completely with an abundant amount of water (photo 3). There should be plenty of water to be able to cook all the canederli afterwards. Put the pot on the stove and turn on the flame. Bring to a boil and then turn down medium-low and cook for three hours.

If the broth gets foamy while cooking, skim off any impurities. After cooking, separate the broth from all the other ingredients by filtering into a second smaller pot (photo 4). The broth should be clear and without any other ingredients. Add salt to taste.

Keep the broth warm while making the canederli.

Instructions for making canederli:

Cut the stale bread into small cubes of about 0.5 cm (photo 5), put in a bowl and set aside. Cut the speck into tiny strips or pieces (photo 6). Peel the onion and then finely chop it.

Put the butter in a saute pan and add the onion and speck and saute until golden brown, around 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool.

Finely chop the chives and parsley. Take the bowl with the bread and add the milk, eggs, chives and parsley, stirring it all together (photo 9). Now add the cooked speck and onion pieces (photo 10).

Stir the mixture, it should be wet enough to stick together (photo 11). You can leave the mixture somewhat chunky looking, with pieces of speck and clearly visible chives. If the mixture needs more moisture, you can add a little more milk. If it is too wet, you can add a bit more stale bread or breadcrumbs.

With slightly damp hands, take a small handful of the mixture and roll together to form a compact ball of about 5 cm diameter. Set the canederli balls on a platter, keeping them separate from each other (photo 12). When you have formed all the balls, around 10 in total, you are ready to boil them.

Bring the already-prepared beef broth back to a boil. Add the bread dumplings one at a time, be sure to use a large enough pot so they can all fit. Cook them for 15 minutes in the broth.

Using a slotted spoon, remove two or three dumplings and put them in a single serving bowl, ladle some broth over them and serve hot. Repeat for each person being served.

What kind of broth is best with knodel?

The authentic Tyrolean recipe calls for homemade beef broth. This region is known for its beef, and a traditional beef broth recipe is the perfect combination. However, these delicious canederli dumplings will also taste great in a vegetarian or chicken broth if that is what you prefer. If you are vegetarian, you can also easily make canederli in magro, the vegetarian version of these dumplings.

Types of broth you can use with canederli:

• Beef broth
• Vegetarian broth
• Chicken broth
• Bouillon cubes or ready-to-use packaged broth

What type of bread should be used for canederli dumplings?

The bread typically used to make canederli dumplings is crusty white bread that is stale, usually one or even several days old. We do not recommend using sandwich bread, but whole wheat crusty bread will work fine.

Why use stale day-old bread?

In Italy, bread is sacred. In the peasant farming tradition, throwing away bread was unheard of, because it was a staple in the diet and grain was very hard to come by. This is why every single region of Italy has recipes that call for stale or day-old bread to ensure nothing goes to waste, two great examples of this are panzanella bread salad in Tuscany andtorta paesanain Lombardy.