Capunsei: the recipe for traditional Mantuan bread dumplings

Cooking time: few minutes

Preparation time: 30 + 30 minutes

Rest time: 2 hours

difficulty: media

CAPUNSEI RECIPE

I capunsei They are a dish from the Mantuan gastronomic tradition, which is prepared with stale breadThe need to avoid wasting food down to the last crumb has been a duty, a commitment, and often a necessity for (almost) all those who came before us. Our country's gastronomic tradition is rich in these examples, dishes born by chance, or from the creativity of those who first conceived them, and which have now become extraordinary, highly regarded specialties.

Ingredients for 4 people

• 250 grams of wholemeal dry bread
• 20 grams of butter
• 100 ml. of vegetable broth
• 30 grams of grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• 1 egg
• nutmeg

Preparation

• Carefully chop or grate the dry bread until it becomes very fine.

• Season it with a little salt and grated nutmeg.

• Transfer it to a bowl and add the butter, which you've melted for 30 seconds in the microwave. Make sure the bread absorbs the butter well.
• Heat the vegetable broth, set aside three spoonfuls, and pour the rest onto the mixture, knead everything together with a fork.

• Add the egg and grated cheese, mix these last two ingredients together as well.

• Now knead with your hands until the dough is soft but firm. If it's too dry, add the remaining vegetable broth. If it's too wet, add some grated cheese. Not all bread absorbs liquid equally.
• Shape the dough into a sphere and let it rest for a couple of hours, covered with cling film or, as in this case, a silicone lid.

• After two hours, take the dough and place it on the pastry board.
• Extract the equivalent of a walnut, which you will slide between the palms of your hands, so as to obtain the typical spindle shape.

• Prepare all the capunsei in this way.
• When ready to serve, cook them in boiling salted water: they are cooked when they float to the surface, like gnocchi.

• Remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon.

The capunsei are ready, and you can season them as you prefer.

Here are some suggestions:

• Tomato Sauce, even the simplest one
• Pesto Genovese
• Butter and sage

We enjoyed them with a sauce made by cooking a Tropea spring onion for about 30 minutes, of which we also used the stem, and finished with a spoonful of pine nuts.

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TYPICAL REGIONAL RECIPES:

• Regional recipes: mparrettati with fresh tomato sauce. An ancient Calabrian dish.
• Suppas: the original Sardinian recipe
• Pasta and potatoes, the ancient and authentic Neapolitan recipe. With a truly special secret for cooking and resting it properly (photo)