Luxembourg: Kniddelen (Letzeburger-style Flour Dumplings with Smoked Bacon and Butter)

These little dumplings are more like the Swiss spaetzle than anything else. This treatment sets them up as a substantial dish in their own right. Without the bacon, they turn up as an additive to soups, or as a side dish alongside stews and one-pot casseroles.

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• 500 g flour

• 1 tablespoon salt
• 3 eggs
• Enough milk to make a thick batter
• 60 g butter
• Strips of smoked bacon
• For cooking the kniddelen: 5 liters salted water

First get the water boiling. Add plenty of salt.

Sieve the flour into a deep bowl. Make a well in the flour, and add the eggs and tablespoon of salt.

Start beating in the eggs and salt, and meanwhile slowly add enough milk to make a thick batter. It should stick to the spoon when you pull the spoon out.

Start dropping the dough into the boiling water by teaspoonfuls. They will sink: when they rise, they're done. Use a slotted spoon to remove them to a bowl into which you've scooped out some of the salted boiling water,

While the kniddelen are cooking, fry or grill the smoked bacon. Drain and chop up well. Melt the butter.

When all the kniddelen are made, take them out of the warm water, drain them briefly, and mix the bacon with them: pour melted butter over the top. Serve.

(If liked, you might consider putting the buttered-and-bacon-garnished kniddelen into a shallow flameproof / ovenproof casserole and running them briefly under the grill before serving.)

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