Semmelknödel

Stale bread is softened with hot milk, and the breadcrumb is a correction for how dry it was.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg, dairy (butter), dairy (milk).

Ingredients

• 350 g stale white bread rolls, in thin slices or cubes
• 300 ml milk, hot
• 3 eggs
• 1 small onion, chopped fine
• 20 g butter
• 3 tablespoons parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons dried breadcrumbs, only if needed
• 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Method

1. STALE BREAD IS SOFTENED WITH HOT MILK, AND THE BREADCRUMB IS A CORRECTION FOR HOW DRY IT WAS. Its Preparation section is four sentences and holds both: STALE, HARD, WHITE BREAD IS CUT INTO THIN SLICES OR CUBES, AND SOFTENED WITH HOT MILK, then BREAD CRUMBS CAN BE USED TO THICKEN THE DOUGH AS THIS DEPENDS ON HOW OLD AND DRIED THE BREAD ROLLS WERE.
2. SO THE RECIPE HAS A VARIABLE IN IT AND SAYS SO. Bread two days old drinks the milk and needs nothing; bread a week old has less structure left and needs the crumb to hold. Judge it after mixing, not before.
3. HOT MILK, NOT COLD, AND THAT IS THE WORD THE ARTICLE USES. Cold milk sits on stale bread and leaves the middle dry; hot milk goes in and the slices collapse evenly.
4. FRESH BREAD WILL NOT WORK AT ALL. It turns to paste rather than softening, and there is nothing to bind.
5. SOFTEN THE ONION IN THE BUTTER FIRST and let it cool. Raw onion in a dumpling stays raw.
6. POUR THE MILK OVER THE BREAD AND LEAVE IT TWENTY MINUTES COVERED. Then the eggs, parsley, onion, salt and nutmeg, worked in by hand.
7. TEST ONE BEFORE SHAPING THE REST. A single dumpling into simmering water: if it breaks up, the dough wants the breadcrumbs; if it holds, it does not.
8. SHAPE THEM WITH WET HANDS, THE SIZE OF A SMALL ORANGE, pressing firmly so no air is trapped inside.
9. SIMMER, NEVER BOIL, FOR TWENTY MINUTES, and keep the lid off. A rolling boil tears them apart. They rise when they are done.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Germany · All recipes