Dumplings (knepfla) - Good comfort food!
Why I Love This Recipe
When my cousins and I got together to learn how to make various dishes our grandparents used to make, we realized that essentially every culture has their own version of the simple flour dumpling. These dumplings (aka Knepfla to German-Russians) are about the size of gnocchi but more dense and perhaps faster to make (I've never made gnocchi, so that's just a guess).
We serve the Knepfla (dumplings) two ways: one version is just browning crumbled bread in butter until it's crispy and topping the dumplings with hot, buttery, crispy bread (carb overload but SO tasty! My cousin Karl says it's a perfect dish for the night before a big run!)
Another way is to add cooked sausage sliced into 1/2" rings to the warm dumplings. Then mix in as much saurkraut as you like and just enough cream to even out the acidity of the saurkraut; heat through. A little salt and pepper and you're set.
You can definitely leave the potatoes out; the Knepfla are plenty good on their own.
Ingredients You'll Need
2 c. flour
1 egg
Sprinkle of salt
Enough water to turn mix into dough
Potatoes (any kind work fine)
Directions
Cube potatoes and put them in a pot of water that is big enough so you can add the dumplings later.
Bring pot of water / potatoes to a boil.
Meanwhile, measure out 2 c. flour into a bowl.
Add 1 egg.
Mix flour and egg with hands or knife to get dough started.
Add water in small batches while kneading bread into a good sized, dense ball of dough. If you add too much water, gradually add a little flour until you have a nice, dense ball of dough.
Once you have the dough kneaded turn the boiling water down to a nice simmer. Using a kitchen scissors, hold the dough in one hand and cut the dough into bite-sized pieces right into the simmering water. (I usually can't take hot water splashing on my hands, so I cut a dozen or so onto a dish and pour them into the water).
It takes awhile to cut a ball of dough into pieces, so watch for any dumplings that rise to the top of the pot while you're cutting them. Remove these with a slotted spoon.
After you've cut the last dumpling into the pot, let them cook for about another 5 minutes, removing those dumplings that rise to the top before 5 minutes is up.
When all the dumplings are done, check to see if the potatoes are done. When they are, drain the water out and then add the dumplings back into the pot to stay warm.
Add either the browned bread bits or the sausage/sauerkraut/cream to the pot and stir to heat everything through. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with a green salad or creamy cucumber salad.
Serves 4. Takes maybe 20 min. start to finish!