Savory homemade speck knödel in a hot beef broth: have I peaked your interest? I am sure that you will adore this bread dumpling soup! These dumplings are a perfect way to use up that leftover bread in your pantry.
No, as you can already see: this is not a classic chicken with dumpling soup. Or a traditional dumpling soup Chinese style…
Is this a lunch soup or a starter?
Well that is for you to decide!
And another question that you might also ask yourself: does this dumpling soup originally come from Germany or Italy?
That is also a very good question.
I have no idea.
But let’s see if we can get to the bottom of that.
Knödel vs. Canederli
Bread dumplings or Brotknödel, dumpling soup and Knödelsuppe are a staple of German cuisine.
But then in Northern Italy you can find dumplings with speck in it which is a Tyrolean cured ham. Speck and bread dumplings are quite popular over there in Italy!
People also call them canederli instead of knödel.
So let’s say that it is a bit of both.
Easy German Speck & Bread Dumpling Soup Recipe
All this aside, I love this recipe.
Because this dumpling soup is yet again a good example of how poor people used to turn old and stale ingredients and leftovers into warm and filling savory dishes.
Poor people’s food because that is what this recipe is all about. Bread ‘meatballs’ with onion and ham for extra flavor, poached in a simple broth. An easy soup dumpling recipe.
It also reminds me a little of my tortellini in brodo soup now that I come to think of it.
Do you know that Italian soup as well?
Broth Soups
You can also find these bread dumplings (without the broth of course) as a side dish for meat in Germany. Some are just plain bread dumplings, others can contain liver or spinach. You can also buy them in every supermarket, so no need to make them from scratch at home.
You just need to reheat them, yum!
I love bread knödel as a side dish, even as a main!
The hubs however isn’t too fond of them though.
So that leaves more for me then.
Bread Dumplings
In northern Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria you can even find bread knödel as a main course – with or without sauerkraut.
The dumplings are poached first and then pan fried in some butter. Put the bread dumplings on a deep plate, drizzle with the melted butter as a sauce and finish with chopped chives and grated parmesan cheese.
Absolutely love it.
Savory homemade speck knödel in a hot beef broth: you will adore this bread dumpling soup!
Enjoy!
Easy German Speck & Bread Dumpling Soup Recipe
- 7 oz stale white bread (200 g), diced
- 3,5 oz speck or bacon (100 g), chopped
- 3 tbsp onion chopped
- 1/3 cup whole milk (80 ml), warm
- 4 cups beef stock (920 ml)
- 2 tsp unsalted butter
- 1 oz plain flour (28 g)
- 3 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
- 1 small egg
- pepper
- salt
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1. Melt the butter in a small pan and then add the chopped onion.
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2. Gently fry the onion in the butter over medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes until a little brown and soft. Then take the pan off the heat and let the onion cool a little. In the meantime add the diced bread and milk to a mixing bowl.
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3. Also add the chopped speck (or bacon), the egg, chopped parsley and cooled onion. Then season the mixture with a good pinch of pepper and salt.
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4. Stir well until all the ingredients are wet and moist. Then also add the flour.
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5. Stir well again. Check the seasoning and add extra pepper or salt to taste if necessary. Then cover the bowl with cling film and let the bread soak for about 15 minutes.
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6. Pour the beef stock in a medium saucepan and bring it to a light simmer. Stir the bread and make 8 even firm balls of the mixture. Then poach the bread balls in the warm stock for about 20 minutes.
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7. Divide the bread dumplings and broth evenly over deep plates. Serve hot.
Tiroler Speck
Have you ever heard of speck before?
What is speck anyway?
It is a type of cured meat that is lightly smoked as well. People sometimes mistake it for prosciutto. Quite a few websites claim that speck is cured pork belly, but it is not. Even though it looks quite similar. And that is probably because Speck in Germany is often called Bauchspeck which literally translates in ‘belly bacon’.
In English speck often gets the name of German bacon.
No, speck is in fact a deboned ham, not pork belly.
Before it is smoked and cured, it is first seasoned with a rub that contains juniper berries.
Alternatives
Speck originally comes from the Italian region of Tirol in the mountains.
If you can’t find speck, then I would replace it by another type of cured ham like prosciutto or serrano. Or guanciale, Italian cured pork jowl. That is the cut of meat that you find in a traditional pasta carbonara.
Yummy!!!!
I would love To do that soup.Thanks