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Canederli Soup

INGREDIENTS: 300 g stale bread, 150 g speck or semi-ripe sausage, ½ onion, 2 eggs, 2 glasses of wheat flour, 2 tbs. of minced parsley, 1 bunch of chives, a knob of butter, 1 ¼ litres of beef stock, salt.

Canederli are a speciality of the country tradition, a “main dish” par excellence, of which there are several versions. Cut bread into small cubes and place them in a bowl, cut the speck or the sausage in very tiny cubes and add to bread. Peel and finely chop onion and fry it in butter. Beat or whisk the eggs with some milk, add parsley and pour the whole on the bread cubes then let it stand for half an hour before adding flour, some salt, fried onions and if necessary, some more milk. Then, with wet hands form the Canederli pellets to be put in boiling, salted water and let them cook at moderate heat for at least 15 minutes. Serve poured with beef stock and sprinkled with chives. Sometimes, particularly if you try this recipe for the first time, it is advisable to boil a test Canederli to see whether it does not fall apart; in this case simply add some more flour to the dough. It is also possible to cook the Canederli directly in the beef stock.

INGREDIENTS: For the pastry: 250 g semi-wholemeal flour, 1 egg, 3 tbs. virgin olive oil, ½ glass of water, 1 pinch of salt. For the stuffing: 2 kg rennet apples, 150 g stale cookies, 50 g currants, 50 g pine nuts, 1 tbs. honey, 1 grated lemon rind, cinnamon, ½ glass of apple juice.

Add a pinch of salt to the flour to be poured on the pastry board then add the egg, oil and water a little at a time just enough to give the dough the right consistency. Knead the mixture for at least 10 minutes, to have a smooth and elastic mass. Form a ball, oil it and let it stand for around half an hour. In the meantime dunk the rinsed currants, peel the apples and cut them into slices. Place both ingredients in a bowl, add honey, cinnamon, the pine nuts and the grated lemon rind, stir well and let it marinade nicely. Roll out the dough on a floured kitchen towel and make it as thin as possible. Sprinkle 2/3 of the pastry with crumbled cookies and then with the previously marinated mixture. Roll the pastry starting from the side it is filled by lifting the towel, so as to have the remaining, empty pastry laying on top of the strudel. Always by using the towel put the cake on the oven iron grill plate or on an oiled and floured tin and bake it at 220° C. After around 30 minutes, brush the strudel with apple juice and bake for another 15-20 minutes.

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