P
Italian · Alto Adige
Canederli in Brodo con Speck e Formaggio
South Tyrolean bread dumplings filled with Speck Alto Adige IGP and smoked cheese (Graukäse or Bergkäse) — the filled variation of the classic plain canederlo. The dumplings are formed from soaked stale bread, egg, and flour, with diced Speck and aged smoked cheese incorporated into the mixture, then simmered in a rich beef and marrow bone broth. The broth must be made from scratch — the canederli's delicate flavour requires a clear, pure broth to show properly. Served in deep bowls with the broth as both setting and sauce.
‹Swipe for the next dish›
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
For the broth
1 kg
beef bones with marrow
chopped
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
500 g
beef shin or brisket
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 litres
cold water
Your own market
2
carrots
halved
Your own market
2
celery stalks
halved
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
onion
halved and charred
Your own market
1 tsp
black peppercorns
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
bay leaf
Your own market
For the canederli
300 g
stale white bread
at least 2 days old, fully dry, cut into 1 cm cubes
Your own market
200 ml
whole milk
warmed
Your own market
2
eggs
beaten
Your own market
40 g
plain flour
plus more if needed
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
150 g
80 g
Graukäse or Bergkäse
smoked; finely diced — use the smaller quantity if using Graukäse, which is markedly pungent
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 tbsp
flat-leaf parsley
finely chopped
Your own market
1 tsp
fine salt
Your own market
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Place the beef bones, marrow and shin in a large pot. Cover with cold water and bring slowly to the boil, skimming the grey foam as it rises. Add the carrots, celery, charred onion, peppercorns and bay leaf. Reduce to the lowest possible simmer and cook for 3 to 4 hours, skimming periodically. Pass through a fine sieve and return to a clean pan. The finished broth must be clear, amber, and free of fat. Degrease by chilling and lifting the solidified fat if time allows.
2
Place the dry bread cubes in a wide bowl. Pour the warm milk over them and leave to saturate fully for 15 minutes. Then squeeze the bread firmly in both hands — it should be uniformly moist but yield no free liquid when pressed. If milk pools at the bottom of the bowl after squeezing, the bread has not been squeezed sufficiently.
3
Add the beaten eggs, flour, diced Speck, diced cheese, parsley and salt to the squeezed bread. Mix with the hands until a cohesive, workable mass forms. The mixture should hold a formed ball without cracking at the surface and without sticking aggressively to the palms. This is where the dish lives or dies: a mixture that is too wet will collapse in the broth; compensate with flour added in small increments — no more than is strictly necessary, as excess flour produces heavy, starchy dumplings that do not float.
4
Bring the finished broth to a bare simmer. Pinch off a small amount of the mixture and poach it as a test canederlo for 8 to 10 minutes. If it holds together and floats, the mixture is correct. If it breaks, incorporate flour incrementally into the remaining mixture and test again before forming the full batch.
5
With dampened hands, shape the mixture into balls of approximately 6 to 7 cm in diameter — roughly the size of a small mandarin. Place on a tray and refrigerate uncovered for at least 20 minutes. The surface will firm and the canederli will hold their shape during poaching. A longer rest overnight is preferable for structure.
6
Lower the canederli gently into the barely simmering broth. Maintain a gentle, trembling simmer throughout — no rolling boil at any stage. Poach for 12 to 15 minutes. The canederli are done when they have swollen slightly, feel yielding but not soft to a light press with a spoon, and float steadily at the surface.
7
Ladle three canederli per person into deep, warmed bowls. Pour the hot, clear broth over and around them — it is both setting and sauce. Serve immediately; the canederli absorb broth rapidly and soften if left to stand.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Speck Alto Adige IGP from a small Tyrolean producer, hand-cured with juniper and aged for at least 22 weeks; Graukäse from a high-altitude malga dairy; bread from a wood-fired sourdough loaf baked two days prior; broth drawn from grass-fed marrow bones simmered 4 hours.
02
Estate — Named Speck Alto Adige IGP from a reliable producer; Bergkäse aged a minimum of 6 months; a good-quality country loaf at least 2 days old; home-made broth from quality beef bones.
03
Market — Commercially available Speck Alto Adige IGP; Bergkäse or a firm smoked alpine cheese from a delicatessen; stale baguette or country loaf; a carefully made home broth from mixed beef bones and vegetables.
04
House — Supermarket smoked ham (not Speck) with a piece of smoked scamorza; any dry stale white bread; a strong commercial beef stock reduced by half to approximate depth of flavour — the canederli will be recognisable but the dish will taste significantly flatter.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. Squeezed bread yields no free liquid when pressed firmly — it is moist but holds together without pooling milk
◇Touch. The formed canederlo mixture holds a ball shape and does not crack or slump when released from the hands
◇Sight. The test canederlo remains whole after 8 to 10 minutes in simmering broth and floats at the surface
◇Touch. Finished canederli yield slightly to the back of a spoon but resist — not soft, not firm
◇Sight. The broth served in the bowl is clear and amber with no fat slick at the surface
◇Where it lives or dies. The mixture must be moist enough to cohere yet firm enough to hold its shape through poaching — correct it with flour only in the smallest increments, as too much flour produces dumplings too dense to float.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Bushmills Malt 10 Year Old
Old Bushmills Distillery · County Antrim — Bushmills Distillery
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Whisky
From British Columbia
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Without alcohol
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The whole pairingPillar VII
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