Schlutzer
(Traditional South-Tyrolean Dumplings)
This recipe was born out of the pure desire to finally eat Schlutzer again. This south-tyrolean Dumplings were one of my absolute favourites as a child and even Michael remembers he loved them, even though they had spinach in them, which he wasn’t the biggest fan of at that time.
Anyways... I have thought about making Schlutzer for quite a while now but I didn’t get round to make them, as I either postponed it or forgot about it. But one fateful day in October 2021, the time had come and we dared to try our recipe that we’ve been thinking about for so long.
So let’s start with the dough. It is traditionally made from a mix of rye and wheat flour. As it is a kind of pasta dough it is prepared with egg. To substitute and mostly to add in a little colour we replaced the egg with 1 psyllium husk 'egg', which is made out of psyllium husk powder, water and turmeric powder. The dough is kneaded by hand until it is nice and soft, which may take some time. Then it is wrapped in cling film and set aside to for 30 minutes (preferably in the fridge).
In the meantime, you can prepare the filling. In South Tyrol, Schlutzkrapfen are usually filled with a mixture of curd cheese, spinach and nutmeg. Especially the filling gave me a headache in advance, because the taste is quite unique and I was afraid that I couldn’t recreate this peculiar taste without the curd. After thinking about it for a while, I decided to use a cashew-cream with nutritional yeast to replace the curd and sort of imitate the flavour. However if you’re able to get your hands on a curd substitute where you live, you can definitely use that. Our filling consists of a cashew cream, spinach, spices, onion, garlic and chives. You can use fresh spinach for this or thawed frozen spinach. The only important thing is that the ingredients for the filling are chopped very finely, as only a small amount goes into the dumplings and if the filling is too chunky the wrapper will rip.
As a next step, the dough is rolled out thinly, preferably with the help of a pasta machine. The dough should be very slightly see-through, but not too thin. When rolling out the dough, it is best to divide the dough into 2 parts and leave the part you don't need wrapped in the cling film, otherwise the dough will dry out quickly. One the dough is rolled out cut out small circles with the help of a round cutter (7cm Ø). Put half a teaspoon of the filling in the centre of each circle, moisten the edges a little with some water, fold over and close up. Press the edges well so that the dumplings don’t rip open during cooking.
Continue rolling the dough and forming the Schlutzer until you used up all your dough. Put a large pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil. Salt the water. Now you can put the Schlutzer into the water and simmer/cook for 3-4 minutes until they rise to the surface. Skim the finished Schlutzer and serve. Traditionally, Schlutzer are served with brown butter, Parmesan cheese and chives. We therefore melted some vegan butter in a pan and drizzled it over our Schlutzer, chop the chives and sprinkle over your finished Schlutzer.
This all sounds great and you now wanna make these traditional Dumplings at home? Or did you come here solely for the recipe and had to scroll through my long anecdotes and descriptions to get here? Well either way here is the recipe for you. Have fun and enjoy!
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
For the dough
150g rye flour
100g wheat flour
½ tsp salt
1 psyllium-husk egg*
50-60ml lukewarm water
For the filling
150g spinach
100g cashew cream** or a vegan curd alternative
½ tsp salt
1 pinch of pepper
1 small onion
1 tbsp vegan butter
1 clove of garlic
1 tbsp chopped chives
1 tbsp yeast flakes
1 pinch of nutmeg
Also
Vegan butter
Chives
Yeast flakes
INSTRUCTIONS
1) Mix the flour and salt. Put it on the work surface and make a hollow in the flour. Add the water and psyllium husk egg to the hollow. Working from the inside out, knead the flour and water into a smooth dough. This takes a while and if the dough is still dry after 5 minutes, add more water and knead again. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2) In the meantime, prepare the filling. To do this, either steam the fresh spinach or defrost the frozen spinach. Drain the spinach and chop it very finely on a board with a sharp knife. Put it in a bowl.
Now chop the onion and garlic very finely, heat the butter in a pan and sauté the onion and garlic in it for a few minutes. Put the whole thing back on the board and chop it smaller again, then add it to the bowl with the spinach.
Add the cashew cream/pot alternative and yeast flakes to the bowl. Mix everything together and season with salt and pepper.
3) Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll out thinly with the help of a pasta machine (level 4-5).
4) Now cut out small circles with a round cookie cutter (7cm Ø). Put ½ teaspoon of the filling in the centre of each circle, moisten the edges slightly with water, fold and close.
5) Cook the Schlutzer in salted simmering water for 3-4 minutes until they rise to the top. Skim and serve with melted vegan butter and chives.
Enjoy!
* For 1 psyllium husk egg: Mix 1/4 tsp psyllium husk flour with 4 tbsp water. Add 1 tsp. turmeric, stir in and allow to thicken for 1-2 minutes.
** For the cashew cream: Boil 80g cashews for 15 minutes until soft. Drain and blend in a blender with 1 tbsp yeast flakes, 1/4 tsp salt and 20 ml water (or plant milk) until smooth.
Hi, we’re Marie and Michael, two foodies living and studying in Vienna!
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