Bread dumplings Ralfi style

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 14 rolls (semmeln), 1 day old
• 380 ml milk, possibly more
• 4 onions
• 100 g cooked ham
• 1 handful of parsley
• 3 eggs
• possibly breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper
• Fat for frying

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 10 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 20 minutes

simple, but with taste; with cooked ham

Heat the milk until it almost boils. Meanwhile, cut the bread rolls into large cubes with sides measuring up to 2 cm. Dice the onions and ham. Chop the parsley. Sauté the onions and ham in a little fat in a pan. Just before the end, add the parsley and heat briefly. It shouldn’t brown. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Place the diced bread rolls in a large bowl, pour over the hot milk, and let stand for a few minutes. Now add the sautéed ingredients from the pan to the bowl and stir with a large wooden spoon until a dough forms. Add the eggs—please do not add them any sooner, as otherwise the eggs could curdle on the hot ingredients and then no longer set. If you can’t continue kneading with the wooden spoon, continue kneading with your hands. Knead until you have a smooth dough. Depending on the moisture content, add a little milk to make it moister or add breadcrumbs to make it drier. Wash your hands and, with wet hands, form a dumpling as a test. Place it in boiling salted water and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Do not boil it, or you’ll end up with soup! Remove the dumpling, cut it open, and taste it – be careful, it’s hot! If everything is okay, then form the remaining dumplings, each weighing about 100g. Why wait now? It’s simple: if it wasn’t right, you’d have to add more seasoning and then twist it again, so twist it after the test. Don’t forget to moisten your hands after each dumpling, so it won’t stick so much. Don’t add more dumplings to the salted water than there is room for next to each other. At first, they will sink and later float. If they don’t, carefully remove them from the bottom. Always keep the water temperature just below cooking temperature. You can also make bread dumplings in advance and then place them in hot water for about 5 minutes when needed. Tips: Slice leftover dumplings the next day and fry them in butter – a dream! Slice the remaining dumplings and dress them with onions, vinegar and oil as a salad – unusual, but very good.