A hearty North Dakotan soup with dumplings, potatoes, and tender pheasant meat.
Pronounced “nef-la,” this hearty North Dakotan soup is filled with potatoes and dumplings associated to German spaetzle. When German immigrants settled in America, significantly within the North Dakota area, knoephla was born. In comparison with Southern dumplings, knoephla is denser and chewier.
There are numerous variations of knoephla, and in my analysis, I got here throughout many feedback from North Dakotans about how their grandmother used to make it. Each household makes knoephla soup in their very own approach. And though most recipes don’t embrace meat, pheasant meat works fairly properly so as to add a little bit of protein. Be at liberty to make it your personal this looking season.
Pheasant and Knoephla Soup Recipe
A hearty, German-inspired North Dakotan soup recipe with dumplings, potatoes, and tender pheasant meat, good for these chilly days.
- 1 pheasant quartered
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 ribs of celery chopped
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 medium carrots peeled and diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 6 cups water
- 1 tbsp Higher Than Bouillon Roasted Rooster Base
- 1 ½ – 2 kilos yellow potatoes
- 2 cups complete milk
Knoephla Dumplings
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp recent dill finely chopped
- 1 tbsp recent parsley finely chopped
- ¾ tsp high quality sea salt
- ½ tsp floor pepper
- 1 giant egg
- 7 tbsp complete milk plus further
-
In a heavy-bottomed pot, soften the butter over medium warmth. Pat pheasant items dry with paper towels and season with salt. Brown the pheasant on each side within the butter and take away it from the pot.
-
Add the chopped celery, onion, diced carrots, and a pinch of salt to the remaining butter. Sweat the greens till the onion turns into translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Then, add garlic and stir for 30 seconds till aromatic. Add the pheasant items again to the pot, together with 6 cups of water. Convey it to a boil and stir within the rooster base to dissolve. Decrease warmth to a simmer and prepare dinner lined for 1 to 1.5 hours or till the pheasant turns into tender.
-
In the meantime, make the knoephla dumplings. In a mixing bowl, mix the flour, dill, parsley, salt, and pepper. Then, make a effectively in the course of the flour and add one egg. Use a fork to evenly beat the egg, then pour milk into the effectively. Incorporate the dry substances into the moist substances, then evenly knead till you get a ball. Don’t overwork the dough.
-
Place the dough onto a evenly floured floor and divide into 4 equal items. Working with one piece at a time, roll it into a skinny log about ¾ inch in diameter. Minimize the log into small, bite-size items. (In hindsight, I might’ve most popular smaller items than what I made as a result of their density.) Place the uncooked dumplings, not touching, on a cookie sheet lined with wax or parchment paper. Maintain dumplings lined with a towel to maintain them from drying out whilst you work with the remaining dough.
-
When tender, take away the pheasant from the soup and set it apart. Convey the soup to a boil after which drop in dumplings one after the other, stirring sometimes to stop clumping. Convey soup right down to a simmer, cowl, and prepare dinner for 10 minutes. In the meantime, peel the potatoes and lower them into 1-inch cubes. Shred the pheasant into bite-size items and discard the bones.
-
Add potatoes and shredded pheasant again to the pot. Add milk and return to simmer. Cook dinner till potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes, stirring sometimes. Don’t permit the milk to boil. Season to style and luxuriate in.
