Pustertaler Speckknödel (bread dumplings)

Ingredients (for 4 people):
- 80 g Speck Alto Adige, cut into small cubes
- ½ finely chopped onion
- 150 g hardened white bread
- 20 g butter
- 40 g flour
- 10 ml milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbls parsley or chives, finely chopped
- 1 red onion
- 4 tblsp oil
- 1 tblsp chives
- salt
- freshly ground pepper

Preparation:
Cut the white bread into small cubes. Fry the onion until glazed, mix with the bread. Add flour and Speck. Mix milk with the eggs, parsley, salt and pepper and add to bread. Let sit for 15 minutes. Make 8 dumplings and let simmer for 15 minutes. Serve the dumplings with bouillon or with lettuce on flat dishes
Wine: South Tyrol Vernatsch

Puschtra Breatl (Pustertal Valley farmer's bread) - little loaves

Ingredients (for 10 pieces):

Sourdough starter:
- 200 g rye flour
- 200 ml lukewarm water (30 °C)
- 20 g fresh yeast
Dough:
- 500 g rye flour
- 300 g wheat flour
- 20 g fresh yeast dissolved in 900 ml warm water (40 °C)
-  20 g salt
- 5 g fennel
- 5 g cumin
- 5 g coriander
- 10 g fenugreek seeds

Preparation:

Sourdough starter:
Dissolve the yeast in warm water, mix all ingredients well, cover with a moist cloth and leave to rest in a warm place (30 °C) for 1 hour.
Completion:
Knead the sourdough with all ingredients to form soft dough; place in a bowl, cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise for 15-20 min. Dust the dough with rye flour, divide into 10 pieces of similar size, form small or medium size rolls and arrange on an oven tray covered with baking paper, allow to swell for 30-40 min, then bake in a preheated oven at 230 °C for approx. 45 min.
Fenugreek (Lat. Trigonella foenum-graecum), in the UK often known under its Hindi name, methi, is an aromatic plant originally native to western Asia. The seeds are roasted and - in English-speaking countries - used as a flavoring in curries, while in South Tyrol it is typically used as a spice in bread baking.

Schlutzkrapfen (pasta parcels filled with spinach)

Igredients:

Spinach filling:
- 800 g spinach
- 4 tbs. chopped parsley
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 40 g butter
- 1 tbs. plain flour
- 1/4 l milk
- 1 tbs. freshly grated parmesan
- salt, pepper, freshly grated nutmeg
- 80 g butter
- 60 g freshly grated parmesan

Pasta:
- 250 g rye flour
- 250 g wheat flour
- 2 eggs
- salt
- 1 tbs. oil
- lukewarm water as required

Preparation:
Knead the ingredients into an elastic dough, not too firm, and leave to rest covered for an hour. Wash the spinach well, cook in a little salt water, strain and squeeze well, then mix with parsley and puree. Lightly fry the chopped onion in butter until transparent and dust with flour, add hot milk, mix well and reduce a little. Add the pureed spinach seasoned with salt, pepper, a pinch of fresh nutmeg and parmesan. Allow to cool. Roll out the dough very thinly as quickly as possible to prevent it from drying out. Using an upturned glass, cut out circular pieces of dough. Place a small spoonful of filling in the centre of each and in the palm of the hand, fold over to form half-moon shapes, pressing the edges together with fingers to close them well. This phase must take place very quickly, for if the top side of the dough is dry and the lower part moist it is not possible to close the pasta parcels properly. Simmer the Schlutzkrapfen in boiling water for 5 minutes, strain, arrange on plates, sprinkle with parmesan and serve with melted butter.
Tips and recommendations:
Add mashed potatoes to the filling. In early spring try substituting spinach with young stinging nettles.
Wine: Kalterersee Auslese

Potato shavings with sauerkraut

Ingredients (for 4 people):

Sauerkraut:
- 500 g sauerkraut (fermented cabbage)
- 750 ml water
- 100 g Speck (cured bacon from South Tyrol, cut into small cubes)
- 3 juniper berries
- 5 pepper corns
- ½ teaspoon of caraway
- 1 bay leaf
- 50 g butter
- 100 g minced onions
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon of flour
- salt
- freshly ground pepper
Potato dough:
- 300 g potatoes
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon of melted butter
- 100 g flour
- a pinch of nutmeg
- salt
Other:
- shortening/vegetable oil

Preparation:

Sauerkraut:
If the sauerkraut is too sour, squeeze the liquid out of it or rinse it with some cold water. To begin with, add the water to the sauerkraut together with the Speck cubes, the juniper berries, peppercorns, caraway and bay leaf. Sprinkle some salt over it and let it simmer gently with the lid on for about 1.5 hours. Melt the butter and use it to fry the onion and garlic. Add the flower and keep stirring the mixture on a low flame until you get a lightly-coloured roux. Then mix it with the sauerkraut, season to taste and let it simmer for another 10 minutes.
Potato dough:
Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes. Boil them in salt water for about 20 minutes, then drain them in a colander and allow the steam to escape. Mash the potatoes, add the egg yolk and melted butter and let the mixture cool off. Then add the flour, nutmeg and salt and knead the dough.
Spread the dough until it is 1-2 mm thick. Cut out small squares or circles (e.g. with a cookie cutter) and fry them in hot oil or shortening for approx. 2 minutes at a temperature of 180°C.
Serve the fried potato shavings with the sauerkraut on the side.
Some more suggestions:
Adding half a teaspoon of aniseed gives the potato dough a bit of a twist!
Canned sauerkraut only takes 20-30 minutes’ cooking.
Our wine suggestion: Traminer Aromatico/Gewürztraminer from South Tyrol

Tender beef rump roast with thyme gravy, two kinds of celery root purée and chanterelles

Ingredients (for 6 people):

Beef rump roast:
- 1 kg deboned beef rump roast
- herb butter
- Dijon mustard
- salt and pepper
Thyme gravy:
- meat bones (veal)
- mirepoix (finely chopped onions, carrots and celery/celeriac)
- pepper corns
- rosemary
- thyme
- tomato purée
- oil
- red wine and cold water
Celery root purée:
- 300 g root celery
- 100 g cream
- 100 g milk
- 100 g water
- 150 g parsley leaves
- butter
- salt and pepper
Chanterelles:
- 200 g chanterelles
- thyme
- olive oil
- parsley
- salt and pepper

Preparation:

Beef rump roast:
Marinate the meat lightly with salt, pepper and Dijon mustard. Then sear it briefly and gently in a frying pan and put it in the oven at 75°C. Desired temperature on the inside of the meat: 52 °C.
Thyme gravy:
Cut the bones into nut-sized pieces and roast them in oil. Add the mirepoix and continue sautéing, then season with salt and pepper. Add the tomato purée, keep sautéing the mixture and finally add a splash of red wine. Leave the mixture simmering to reduce it. Repeat adding wine and reducing the liquid several times to allow the gravy to deglaze and its full flavour to unfold. Then add some cold water and let it all simmer gently. Remove the bones, blend the gravy and continue reducing it to taste.
Celery root purée:
Clean the celery roots and cut them into cubes. Gently boil them in cream, milk and water until they are soft. Blend and season to taste with salt, pepper and butter. Blanch the parsley leaves and season them with salt. Place the leaves in iced water or shock-freeze them for a few minutes, then blend them and add them to one half of the celery root purée.
Chanterelles:
Sauté the chanterelles in a frying pan with oil and the spices.
Completion:
Take the roast out of the oven, let it rest for a moment and then gently heat it up in a pan with some herb butter. Cut it into slices of 2 cm and arrange them on the plates. Take the two purées, scoop out egg-shaped spoonfuls and place them next to the meat. Arrange the chanterelles on the plates and add some gravy.

Apple fritters

Ingredients:
- 2 medium sized South Tyrolean apples
- lemon juice from ½ lemon
- 125 g flour
- 1/8 l milk or beer
- 2 egg yolks
- ½ package vanilla sugar
- 1 tbsp oil
- 2 egg whites
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- Fat for frying
- 3 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 12 raspberries

Preparation:
Peel and core apples and cut into ½ cm slices. Sprinkle with lemon juice to avoid browning and let rest for 10 minutes.
Dough:
Put flour in a bowl, add milk or beer and stir into dough. Add egg yolks, vanilla sugar and the oil. Beat eggwhites with salt until stiff and then add sugar. Cover apple pieces with dough and fry in fat until golden. Mix sugar with cinnamon and roll apple fritters in sugar mix. Garnish with raspberries.
Serving advice:
Serve with vanilla sauce and cinammon semifreddo with chocolate cookie.
Wine: Rosenmuskateller from South Tyrol