Knedlíky

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 10 gfresh yeast
• 250 mlwarm milk
• 1egg
• 1 tspsalt
• 1 tspsugar

Also

• 3stale bread rolls, in 1 cm cubes

To cook

• a large pot of salted water

To serve

• svíčková
• guláš
• sauce of any kind

Directions

1. Cut the stale rolls into cubes and let them dry further on a tray while the dough proves.
2. Genuinely stale bread. Fresh cubes dissolve into the dough and you lose the flecks that define a houskový knedlík.
3. Mix the yeast with the warm milk and sugar and leave it 10 minutes to froth.
4. Combine with the flour, egg and salt and knead for 10 minutes into a smooth, soft dough.
5. Work the bread cubes through the dough at the end, distributing them evenly.
6. Prove for an hour until doubled.
7. Shape the dough into two or three long cylinders, about 6 cm thick.
8. Keep them narrow. A fat dumpling stays raw and gluey in the middle however long it boils.
9. Prove for a further 20 minutes.
10. Lower them into a wide pot of gently boiling salted water.
11. Boil for 20 to 25 minutes, turning each one over halfway through.
12. Turn them halfway. They float, and the upper half cooks only in steam, so an unturned dumpling is dense on one side.
13. Lift one out and pierce it immediately with a fork in several places.
14. Prick them the moment they come out or the trapped steam condenses and the inside collapses into a wet mass.
15. Now the cutting, which the Czechs are particular about. Cut them with a thread or a length of fishing line drawn through, not with a knife.
16. A knife compresses and smears the crumb, while a thread cuts cleanly and leaves the slices open and light.
17. Cut into slices about 1.5 cm thick and serve immediately, overlapping on the plate.
18. They are not a side dish so much as the vehicle for sauce, and no Czech main course with gravy is served without them.

Technique

• Houskový knedlík is the bread version; bramborový knedlík is made with potato and is a different dumpling.
• Leftovers are fried in butter with egg the next day, as a dish in their own right.
• They are sold ready-made in every Czech supermarket and nobody apologises for buying them.

Substitutions

• A little semolina in place of some of the flour, for a firmer dumpling.
• Steaming them rather than boiling, which some cooks prefer.

Variations

• Bramborové knedlíky, made with potato.
• Without bread cubes, as a plain dumpling.
• Fruit-filled, as sweet ovocné knedlíky.

History

Boiled bread dumplings sliced with a thread rather than a knife so they are not squashed; they soak up the sauces of Czech cooking.

Frequently asked questions

What is Knedlíky?

Knedlíky is a salad & side from Czechia: sliced boiled bread dumplings made for soaking sauce. Boiled bread dumplings sliced with a thread rather than a knife so they are not squashed; they soak up the sauces of Czech cooking.

How long does Knedlíky take to make?

Knedlíky takes 25 min plus 1 hr rising of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 3 dumplings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Knedlíky?

Yes, within limits. A little semolina in place of some of the flour, for a firmer dumpling. Steaming them rather than boiling, which some cooks prefer.