Canederli (knödel)

by Micaela Harrasser

This is a traditional dish from where my grandfather is from: the northern region of Italy Alto Adige (or Südtirol, in german). The food there is very rich and outstanding, very similar to Austrian food but tastier (could be the Dolomites, the weather, or simply my bias haha).

Canederli, or knödel, are big gnocchi/balls made of stale/dried white bread which gets teared apart, softened with milk or water, and combined with several ingredients. The most common/known variations are: Canederli with Speck (a smokey cured pork-derived type of ham/fresh cut, very common in this region, in Austria and Germany); with liver from beef/calf, cheese, spinach or mushrooms.

Here I show you how to make the 3 of these variations, with ingredients that are easy to come by, and available most of the year!

Seasoning: once cooked, you can eat them in many ways. Pictured above you have sliced canederli (ideally from the day after), pan-fried until crunchy, to add to your salad. Perfect quick lunch! Another way, super tasty & fatty (& my favorite of course), is to cover them with freshly grated cheese, melted butter and a sprinkle of chives. So, so good. The third option, perfect for a light dinner, is to keep the broth you cooked them in, making it a super tasty broth with floating gorgeous gnocchi. Let me know when you try them, which one is your favorite! ;D Buon appetito!

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