Kaspressknödel: Tyrolean Pan-Fried Cheese and Bread Dumplings

Steps

1. 1Soften the onion in butter

   Mince the onion finely. Melt part of the butter in the wide frying pan over medium-low heat and set the rest aside for frying. Add the onion and stir now and then until it is soft and glossy. Don't let it brown, because browned onion leaves a bitter edge in the dumpling. Move on when the onion is translucent and sweet-smelling, with no brown edges.

2. 2Toss the bread with the cheese

   Put the dry bread cubes in the large bowl and scatter the grated cheese over them. Toss with your hands or a spoon, lifting from the bottom, so the cheese spreads evenly and doesn't sit in clumps. Every cube should have some cheese clinging to it. Stop when the mix looks evenly flecked and the cubes are still dry and loose.

3. 3Bring the dough together

   Add the softened onion with its butter, then the milk, eggs and parsley. Season generously with pepper and marjoram and lightly with salt. Mix with a wooden spoon or your hands, squeezing gently so the bread takes up the liquid. Stop as soon as the dough is workable. Don't knead it. It is ready when a handful squeezed in your fist holds together and you can still see the cubes.

   Season before you shape

   Once the patties are fried, you can't add seasoning to the inside. Put the pepper and marjoram in now, and add enough of both that you can see them. If the patties will go into broth, which dilutes flavor, season the dough a little more firmly.

4. 4Shape with wet hands

   Dip your hands in water and take a handful of dough. Roll it into a ball, then press it flat between your palms into a round patty, firming the edges with your fingertips. Set it on a plate and wet your hands again before the next one. Keep going until all the dough is shaped. A good patty holds its shape when you lift it and doesn't crack open at the edges.

   Press firmly

   Wet hands keep the dough from sticking, so you can press hard. A firmly pressed patty stays in one piece in the pan and when you turn it. A loose one falls apart.

5. 5Fry the first side

   Wipe out any onion bits and melt the remaining butter in the pan over medium-low heat until it foams. Lay in the patties with space between them, working in batches if needed. Leave them alone so a crust forms. Lower the heat if the butter starts to smell sharp or go dark. Turn them when the underside is deep golden brown and crisp.

   Hot butter

   Butter spatters when the wet dough goes in, and it burns at lower temperatures than oil. Keep the heat at medium-low and lay each patty in away from you. Use a wide spatula to turn them, and keep children back from the stove.

6. 6Turn, finish and check the center

   Turn each patty with the wide spatula and press it lightly so the second side lies flat in the butter. Fry until the second side matches the first. Cut one patty open to check. It is done when the cheese inside has melted into strings and the center is steaming hot. If the crust is browning faster than the middle heats up, turn the heat down and give it more time.

7. 7Serve hot, in broth or with salad

   Serve the dumplings straight from the pan. For soup, set them in a deep bowl and ladle hot clear beef broth over them. Add the broth right before serving so the crust is still slightly crisp when the bowl reaches the table. For a main course, put them on a plate next to a dressed green salad or sauerkraut. Serve them while the crust still crackles under the spoon.