Trentino-Alto Adige
Bread and spinach dumplings from the Trento valleys — larger and more rustic than their canederli cousins — dressed with browned butter and crispy sage leaves. Unlike canederli served in broth, strangolapreti are boiled in salted water and finished in the pan. The name ('priest-stranglers') refers to a legend of a gluttonous priest who ate them so fast he choked. The texture is dense and yielding, held together with egg and flour.
Nutty, milky and slightly bitter from the sage; the brown butter soaks into the porous dumplings; Trentingrana adds aged savouriness — mountain simplicity done with care
{"The bread must be thoroughly saturated with warm milk — dry spots create uneven texture and crumbling","Squeeze spinach until bone dry before mixing — excess water prevents the mixture from binding","Rest the mixture in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before shaping to allow gluten to relax","Roll into oval shapes with floured hands and test one in boiling water before cooking the full batch","Brown butter to a hazelnut colour (beurre noisette) — pale melted butter lacks the flavour depth that is the sauce"}
{"Mix aged Trentingrana into the dough as well as on top for a deeper cheese flavour throughout","Crisp the sage leaves in the brown butter until completely crisp — soft sage leaves are unpleasant in texture","A small amount of finely grated speck mixed into the dough (untraditional but regionally inspired) adds smokiness"}
{"Wet spinach that makes the mixture loose and produces dumplings that fall apart in the water","Skipping the rest period, leading to sticky, unworkable dough","Using fresh bread — only stale, dry bread works; fresh bread turns the mixture gummy"}
La Cucina Trentina — Tradizione di Montagna