LEAFY GREEN KNÖDEL, BUTTER & PARMESAN

dumplings to fall in love with

nestled in melted butter and grated parmesan

Hello there,

I firstly wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who reads and supports this newsletter. Knowing that you have enjoyed reading and even making my recipes brings me untold joy. Without your support, I wouldn’t be able to send this out every week, so thank you, times a million !

This week I am so excited to share a recipe with you that I have only recently discovered myself. I had been recommended one specific dumpling restaurant in Berlin, from both my boyfriend Jamie and my good friend Roz, on the same day. Jamie had been taken by native Berlin friends, and had come away calling it the best meal of his life. He has a habit of saying lots of things are the “best of his life” but he spoke about these dumplings so often, and with such passion, ever since he tried them in August 2023, that I had to take heed of his advice. So when we got to Berlin a month ago, I booked us in for dinner the day we arrived. We walked half an hour in the cold, foggy, dark night to the restaurant and three dumplings later, I was in love.

I had asked Jamie what sort of dumplings to expect, but he hadn't really been able to describe them to me, just insisting I had to try them to believe them. So I went in unsure and with hazy expectations. I will try a little harder for you, so that you don’t just have to take our word for it. These dumplings are pillow soft balls of dough, gently simmered in vegetable stock, nestled into the warm embrace of melted butter and a gentle patter of parmesan. They remind me of a mix between Italian malfatti and a traditional British suet dumpling. They are cosy, warming, filling and utterly delicious. I understand why the memory of this meal has been haunting Jamie. I refuse to let it do the same to me, as we are set to leave the city at the end of the week, so I have developed this recipe to keep me company until the next time we can come back and enjoy the legend that is Knödelwirtschaft.

I love these dumplings for their simplicity and frugality, using up stale bread and odds and ends of cheese. I have tested them with both dairy and oat milks, so feel free to substitute for what you have in the house, and add other flavours depending on what you have in.

I’m working on a comprehensive Berlin food guide that will be coming to all paid subscribers next week, so keep an eye out for that! In the meantime, I hope you fall in love with these dumplings like we have.

Sending love, Rosie x

LEAFY GREEN KNÖDEL, BUTTER & PARMESAN

Any leafy greens will do here and once you have the hang of the method you can substitute with any vegetable you like. I have eaten great beetroot, chard, mushroom and straight cheese versions. These dumplings also freeze really well, so I would suggest to always make the full recipe and freeze those you don’t want immediately. You can cook them from frozen, just add another 5 minutes to the cooking time.

Ingredients Ingredients: 

270g white bread, diced into small cubes (stale bread is great here if you have any to use up!)

2 tbsp plain flour 

50g butter

1 x large onion, finely diced

2 x cloves of garlic, minced

500g leafy greens, roughly chopped

75ml milk 

3 eggs

100g grated cheese (I like a sharp cheddar, Comté or gruyere)

1 tsp sea salt 

0.5 tsp black pepper

To serve: 

1 x vegetable stock cube

100g butter

50g parmesan 

Salad and sauerkraut 

Method: 

1. In a large bowl, toss the cubed bread with the plain flour 

2. In a frying pan, melt the butter, add the onion and garlic and sauté for 10 minutes until translucent and soft.

3. Blanche the leafy greens in boiling salted water. Drain and refresh under cold water.

4. Squeeze as much moisture as you can out of the greens.

5. In a food processor, or with a stick blender, blend together the wilted greens, eggs and milk until smooth.

6. Pour the green mixture over the bread, add the onions & garlic, grated cheese, salt and pepper. Mix everything by hand, squeezing and kneading until you have a cohesive dumpling dough. 

7. Chill the mix in the fridge for 30 minutes.

8. Shape the dough into 16 equal round dumplings, roughly 60g each.

9. At this point you can freeze any dumplings you don’t want to eat immediately.

10. Bring a medium pan of water to the boil, reduce the heat so the water is just under the boil, and add the stock cube, stir to dissolve. Make sure the stock stays under the boil, if it starts to boil then the dumplings will break apart and you will have more of a soup, which is far from ideal.

11. Add the dumplings and cook for 15 minutes with the lid of the pan ajar, depending on your pan size, you may need to do this in two batches of so the pan is not too overcrowded. The dumplings should be in a single layer.

12. While they cook, melt the butter and grate the parmesan to serve. 

13. Serve the dumplings topped with the melted butter, grated parmesan, some more black pepper and a pinch of salt. A fresh leafy salad and some sauerkraut are the ideal accompaniments.