Provolone and swiss chard Canederli with herb butter

Method

1. Soak the bread in milk.
2. Finely chop the onion and sauté with a knob of butter and oil.
3. Add the chard or spinach, stew over a medium heat, then chop it up with a knife.
4. Squeeze the soaked bread and crumble it up in a tureen with eggs, chard, grated Auricchio, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
5. If necessary, regulate the consistency of the mixture by adding some breadcrumbs.
6. Use the mixture to shape some balls the size of a plum, then boil them gently in lightly salted water or in vegetable broth, if you prefer.
7. Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the minced herbs as well as a little water or broth.
8. Stir until obtaining a smooth emulsion and spread it over the canederli with cheese.
9. Serve at once with more grated Auricchio.

Chef's tip

If you want to make this dish lighter, you can replace the butter with olive oil and reduce the quantities.

Serving suggestion

Since this is a quite hearty dish, we suggest you serve it with vegetable side-dishes, salads or light meat based dishes.

Wine selection

Alto Adige Classico DOC or Lagrein.

Family tip

Feel free to replace the Auricchio Piccante with any other Provolone of your choice, Dolce or Smoked for instance!

Dish history

Canéderli (Knödel in German) is a typical dish of the German, Austrian, Czech, Slovakian and Polish cuisine, but it can also be found in the Trentino-Alto Adige region. Its recipe is pretty ancient and, being made mainly of stale bread, it also represented a way for the paesants to recover leftover food. While in Germany there are several versions of these big 'gnocchi' (each of which has its own name), in the Italian cuisine Canéderli only refers to the dish prepared in the Tyrol area. The dumplings can be served in broth or 'dry', with melted butter, gulasch, sauerkraut, wild chicory.. or with spinach or chard like in this recipe!