USA: North Dakota - Knoephla Soup

Knoephla (pronounced nip-fla) is a soup popular in North Dakota. This recipe was brought to the state by German immigrants from Russia. It sometimes includes chicken but we're having the plain potato version today. The word Knöpfle in German means button or little knob which gives the soup it's name because of the little dough dumplings in it.

Ingredients:

For the potato mix:

1/2 cup butter

3 potatoes

1 onion

1 cup milk

For the dumplings:

3/4 cup flour

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

For the broth:

2 cups water

2 cups chicken stock

The first thing to do is to peel and cube the potatoes. Grate the onion and melt the butter in a frying pan. When it has melted saute the potatoes and onion for about 20 minutes, until soft. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 cup of milk.

Next we make the dumplings. Add the flour, egg, milk and salt to a bowl.

Mix it well to form a stiff dough. Add a little more flour if it's still quite soft. Roll the dough into a long sausage shape.

Slice the dough into 1/2 inch slices and keep on a plate until needed.

In a pan, bring the water and stock to a boil. Add the dumplings and simmer for 10 minutes. After the time is up they should be floating in the broth. Add the potato mixture to the pan and stir well. 

Serve in bowls topped with a little parsley.

This was a lovely warming soup with simple flavours. The dumplings were soft and doughy adding a different texture from the potatoes. It was nice with some bread dipped in and just the thing to have for lunch on a cold, wet November day.