These delicious canederli al radicchio e zucca Hokkaido are a vegan take on the traditional dumplings found in Northeast Italy. Canederli are super economical, easy to make and very satisfying – no wonder they’re a much-loved regional Italian dish!
What are canederli?
Canederli, also called Knödeln by the locals, are bread dumplings found in the north-east of Italy (Trentino-Alto Adige, Friuli, and part of Veneto), and they are served with pride in some of the best restaurants in the area.
Variations of this dish are common all over Europe, where they are often served as an accompaniment to meat stews and roasts. The word canederlo, in fact, derives from the German and Austrian word Knödel (dumpling).
Traditionally they contain speck, or cheese, which is usually produced locally. You may also find some variations like spinach, cabbage or beetroot. I wanted this vegan version of mine to be equally as tasty as any of the traditional recipes, so I decided to use the decisive flavours of Italian radicchio and Hokkaido pumpkin for a showstopping take on the original!
Italian radicchio and pumpkin come into season around the time when canederli appear on the menu, in late autumn and winter. I love the orange and purple flecks of colour in these canederli and they taste wonderful. Read more about Hokkaido pumpkin here.
How to cook canederli al radicchio e zucca hokkaido
Canederli are first steamed and then served in either vegetable broth or melted vegan butter. They are a great way to use up stale bread and other leftovers and are very simple to make. Originally a poor man’s food, dumplings are still a much-loved favourite in cuisines all over the world today.
How do you veganise canederli?
Instead of eggs, I used ground chia seeds as a binding agent to hold the canederli together. I followed tradition and made these canederli with dry white bread, moistened with soya milk instead of dairy milk to hold them together. Instead of speck and cheese, I seasoned them with onions, radicchio and pumpkin. For this recipe, I used Hokkaido pumpkin, also called Japanese squash or red Kuri squash. But you can substitute with any kind of pumpkin that remains relatively firm when cooked. The slightly bitter radicchio becomes mellower when cooked and is perfect when paired with the sweeter pumpkin squash. Nutritional yeast flakes give depth of flavour and act as an additional binder.
How to serve vegan canederli al radicchio e zucca hokkaido
Seasoning is simple, as always, with Italian recipes. In Trentino-Alto Adige, they either serve them in broth or with melted butter poured over them. I usually make homemade broth from fresh vegetables. It’s much quicker and easier than you’d imagine. You just put an onion, a carrot, a stick of celery and a little leek (optional) in a litre of water and simmer them while you make the canederli. By the time you’re done, the broth will be ready. Add a little unrefined sea salt, and you’ve got a really healthy vegetable broth! Here on my blog, you’ll find a post on how to make vegetable broth from kitchen scraps.
Alternatively, you could use ready-made broth from powder or a cube.
The other traditional way of serving them is with melted butter. Simply melt some vegan butter in a pan before pouring it over the steamed canederli. Another interesting variation is the Italian classic “burro e salvia” (butter and sage). Put some vegan butter in a pan, melt it, and then add rubbed dried sage leaves. Let it fry gently for a few seconds, and then pour it over the canederli.
Easy to make, yet delicious and filling! Perfect for an autumn or winter evening at home.
How to make vegan canederli al radicchio e zucca hokkaido
Below you’ll find the exact ingredients and quantities as well as a step-by-step guide with photos on how to make canederli al radicchio e zucca Hokkaido. You could substitute the radicchio and pumpkin with spinach or savoy cabbage. Here on my blog, you’ll find another unusual recipe: canederli all’aglio orsino (canederli with wild garlic). The whole idea of dumplings is to use up leftovers! But canederli al radicchio e zucca Hokkaido are just so tasty and out of the ordinary that it’s really worth sourcing the ingredients to make them.
How to store leftover canederli
Store any leftover canederli in an airtight container in the fridge, where they will keep for 2 – 3 days.
Vegan canederli al radicchio e zucca Hokkaido
4
servings30
minutes12
minutes42
minutesA vegan variation of canederli, a traditional speciality from the Trentino-Alto Adige region of Italy. Delicious steamed bread dumplings flavoured with Italian radicchio and Hokkaido pumpkin. Serve them in hot vegetable broth or with melted vegan butter.
Recipe by Deborah, veganhotstuff.com
Quantities are for 4 people (3 canederli per person)
Ingredients for 12 canederli, weighing 90 grams each
- For the canederli
300 g stale bread, broken up into tiny pieces or reduced to crumbs (see notes below)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
120 g onion (finely chopped)
100 g radicchio (chopped)
100 g pumpkin (Hokkaido), cut into small cubes of about 5 – 6 mm
unrefined sea salt
black pepper
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tbsp chia seeds (don’t omit – see notes below)
300 + g soy milk (my bread was super dry, so I had to use 450 g, see notes below)
a little chopped parsley for garnish
- For the vegetable broth
2 lit water
250 g vegetables in equal proportions (onion, carrot, leek, celery)
herbs (parsley, thyme, bayleaf)
5 peppercorns
unrefined sea salt
Directions
- If you want to make homemade vegetable broth, put all the vegetables into a pan and simmer for 45 – 60 minutes. It will be ready by the time you have made the canederli (see notes below).
- Break the stale bread up into small pieces and then reduce them to crumbs with a mortar and pestle (see notes below). Put the breadcrumbs into a large bowl and set aside. (The photo below is of the bread BEFORE being reduced to crumbs with a mortar and pestle.)
- Put 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil into a pan and heat it up. Add the chopped onion and sweat on a low heat without colour for 5 minutes.
- Add the radicchio and the cubes of pumpkin and continue to cook on a low heat for another 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, remove from the heat and set aside.
- Add the nutritional yeast flakes to the breadcrumbs.
- Put the chia seeds into a grinder or blender and blend until finely ground. Add the ground chia seeds to the breadcrumbs and nutritional yeast and mix well (see notes below).
- Add the radicchio and pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients, season with salt and pepper and mix well.
- Add the soy milk to the mixture, starting with 300 g. If the crumbs are very dry, you’ll need up to 450 g. The consistency is right when the mixture holds together well and forms a compact ball that holds its shape. Correct the seasoning if necessary before you proceed with making the balls.
- Make 12 compact balls weighing 90 g each.
- Place the balls into a steamer in batches of six (where the water is already simmering), put the lid on and steam on a low heat for 12 minutes).
- Strain your vegetable broth, season it with unrefined sea salt, and pour it into serving bowls. Put 3 canederli into each bowl, garnish with chopped parsley and serve immediately.
- If you prefer to serve your canederli “dry”, heat some vegan butter in a saucepan, and add some dried rubbed sage or fresh chopped sage (sage is optional). Gently fry the sage for 10 – 15 seconds, pour the butter over the canederli and serve immediately. You can do this 2 minutes before the second batch of canederli are ready.
Notes
- I usually put my vegetable broth on just before I start making the canederli. The broth will be ready by the time you have finished making the canederli. (See how to make vegetable broth from kitchen scraps.)
- I use a mortar and pestle to reduce the pieces of dry bread into fine crumbs. The first time I made them, I had some difficulties getting them to hold together. They had a coarser texture and tended to break up a bit. Finer crumbs definitely work better, and the canederli hold together perfectly. Don’t use store-bought breadcrumbs!
- Start off with 300 g of soy milk. If your bread is really dry, you’ll need more – up to 450 g. Add a little at a time until you get the right consistency. If you don’t want to use soy milk, you can use vegetable broth instead.
- Don’t omit the chia seeds. They are the egg substitute, or the “glue”, that holds everything together. It’s really important to make sure that you grind them in a grinder or blender and then mix the powder into the other dry ingredients. If ground chia seeds come into contact with a liquid, they immediately absorb that liquid and clump. This will not happen if the ground chia seeds are mixed well with the other dry ingredients.
- If you follow these steps, the consistency will be perfect every time.
- Cook the canederli in a steamer, on a low heat. This will prevent them from breaking up! They come out of the steamer just perfect – ready to be put in vegetable broth or drenched in melted vegan butter.
- Read the notes above in the main blog post above for the best results.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do! If you do, please leave a comment below. Your feedback is valuable to me, and it helps other readers too. Thanks for showing your support!
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