Bread dumplings from the steamer

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 300 g white bread, stale
• 300 ml milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 bunch of parsley and/or chives
• 1 pinch(s) of pepper
• 1 pinch(s) nutmeg, grated
• 100 g diced ham
• some fat for frying, if necessary

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 2 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours 50 minutes

Cut the bread from the previous day into small cubes, about 0.5 cm in diameter, and place in a bowl. Tip: If you cut the bread before it dries, it will be less likely to crumble. Sauté the ham in a pan with the onions (if the ham is very lean, add a little more fat). Now mix the milk with the eggs, pepper, and nutmeg. Then add the parsley and/or chives, ham, and onions to the bread cubes. Pour the milk and egg mixture over the bread and mix well. The bread should absorb the liquid. Line a loaf pan with cling film. Tips: For 300 g of bread, you need a pan that holds 900 ml. If you don’t have a metal pan, a silicone pan will also work. In this case, you don’t need to line the pan with cling film. You can then cook the dumpling in the silicone pan. The pan doesn’t have to be oblong, either. A Bundt pan also works very well. However, you should only turn the dumpling out of the pan after it has been cooked. Press the dumpling dough into the pan with a spoon. To ensure the dumpling stays in place and the entire mixture fits into the pan, you have to press it down really firmly. Then place the excess foil over the dumpling dough and press it down again with your hand, then let the dumpling rest in the refrigerator for at least two hours (I always prepare the dumpling in the morning if I want to cook it in the evening). After the resting time, turn the dumpling out of the metal pan onto the perforated tray of the steamer and remove the foil. Caution: Before turning it out, open the top of the foil so that you can remove it later. If the dumpling doesn’t fall out of the pan on its own, you can pull on the foil a little. Then cook in the steamer at 100°C for 20 minutes. Tips: If you don’t have a steamer and are making the dumpling in a king cake pan or a Bundt cake pan, you can also cook it in the oven. Then you place it in a water bath. Or you can place the Bundt pan in a saucepan filled with water and gently steam the dumpling. The cooking time must be increased accordingly for larger dumplings. If the pan is wider, the cooking time should also be extended by about 1/2 hour. When the dumpling is ready, cut into finger-thick slices, about 2-3 slices per person. Hungry guests may eat four slices. One slice weighs about 50 g. This dumpling makes 12-14 slices. The dumpling can be prepared in several ways. Version 1: Instead of onions, parsley, chives, and ham, you can also use frozen spinach. Then sauté fresh sage leaves in butter and pour the sauce over the dumpling slices. The Italians call this “Strangolapreti – He strangles the priest.” Version 2: Omit the onions, parsley, chives, ham, pepper, and nutmeg. Instead, fold chocolate chips into the mixture. Then serve with vanilla sauce for dessert.