Canederli in Brodo — Bread Dumplings in Broth

Trentino-Alto Adige (Tyrol) — canederli/Knödel are the bread of the Alpine valleys. The technique of using stale bread to create dumplings is documented throughout the Alpine arc from Trentino through Austria and Bavaria. The Trentino version retains the Ladin name; the Alto Adige version is Knödel.

Canederli (Knödel in German) are the bread dumplings that define the cooking of Trentino-Alto Adige: stale bread softened in milk, mixed with eggs, speck (or speck and cheese, or spinach, or liver), shaped into fist-sized balls, and simmered in broth or salted water. They embody the region's parsimony — using old bread that would otherwise be wasted — and its dual cultural identity (Knödel in Tyrolese, canederlo from the Ladin 'chaneder'). The preparation is simple; the skill is in the ratio of ingredients: too much milk and the dumpling falls apart; too little and it is dense and floury.

A properly made canederlo in brodo is one of the most comforting preparations in Italian cooking — the soft, yielding interior of the bread-and-speck dumpling, suspended in a clear, golden beef broth, provides warmth and satiety in equal measure. The speck adds salt and smoke; the egg adds richness; the bread provides the neutral, absorbing base.