Semmelknödel are a specialty of southern German and Austrian cuisine. They are served as an accompaniment to dishes such as roast pork (often together with sauerkraut and / or red cabbage). Other varieties use pretzels (Brezenknödel) in place of bread or use bacon (Speckknödel) as an addition to the recipe. Napkin dumplings (Serviettenknödel) have similar ingredients, but are elongated and served in slices.
Ingredients:
1 (1 pound) loaf stale French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
2 eggs
½ teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
½ cup dry breadcrumbs (optional)
Instructions:
Place bread cubes into large bowl.
Heat milk until bubbling at edges, then pour over bread cubes. Stir briefly to coat bread then let soak for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt butter in skillet over medium heat, then add onions and cook and stir until tender. When done, stir in parsley, remove from heat, and let cool. When cooled, mix into bowl with bread, eggs, salt, and pepper, then use hands, to kneed into dough, squeezing dough through fingers until smooth and sticky.
Bring large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Water should be at least 7.5 to 10 cm (3 or 4 inches) deep. When water is boiling, make test dumpling sized to the size of small orange or tangerine. Do this by patting and cupping between wet hands.
Gently drop into boiling water using spoon or other implement as to not burn hands. If dumpling falls apart, dough is too wet. In this case, stir more breadcrumbs into rest of dumpling batter and repeat test until dumpling does not fall apart.
Form remaining dough into large dumplings, and carefully drop into boiling water with spoon or another implement. Simmer for 20 minutes, then remove to serving plate with large, slotted spoon. Dumplings should come out soft and spongy.
Credits: All Recipes
