Wild garlic dumplings are the recipe we use to open the wild garlic season in April and May. We work 100 g of fresh wild garlic directly into the bread dumpling dough, not as a green sauce on top, but as seasoning from within. That is what sets these apart from any dumpling we have made with dried herbs before.
We have been making these dumplings for years whenever we come back from the woods or the market with a handful of wild garlic and do not want to freeze yet another batch of pesto. By now we know exactly where things can go wrong in the Thermomix® and which settings really matter. The most important one: the wild garlic must not turn to a puree, otherwise the dough tastes like green paste rather than dumplings with a real wild garlic bite.
Wild Garlic Dumplings with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 10 ✓
- 100 g mountain cheese
- 400 g bread rolls from the day before
- 3 shallots
- 100 g wild garlic
- 40 g oil
- 200 g milk
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 100 g butter
Instructions 0 / 10
-
1
Grate the cheese.
Cut the cheese into pieces, place in the mixing bowl and grate for 6 sec / speed 5, then set aside.
-
2
Chop the bread rolls.
Break the bread rolls into pieces, place in the mixing bowl, chop for 15 sec / speed 5, then set aside.
-
3
Chop the shallots.
Peel the shallots, place in the mixing bowl, chop for 5 sec / speed 5 and push down with the spatula.
-
4
Chop the wild garlic.
Wash the wild garlic, shake dry, add and chop for 6 sec / speed 6.
-
5
Steam.
Add 40 g oil and steam for 3 min / Varoma / reverse direction / speed 1.
-
6
Warm the milk.
Add the milk and warm for 1 min / 60°C / reverse direction / speed 1.
-
7
Mix the dough.
Add the bread rolls, eggs, salt and nutmeg and mix with the help of the spatula for 25 sec / reverse direction / speed 3.
-
8
Cook the dumplings.
Bring a pot of salted water to a simmer, shape 8 dumplings with wet hands and cook for approximately 15 minutes in the salted water at a gentle simmer.
-
9
Brown the butter.
Meanwhile, melt 100 g butter in a frying pan and allow it to turn lightly golden brown.
-
10
Serve.
Lift the dumplings from the water with a slotted spoon, divide between plates, drizzle with the butter and serve scattered with the cheese.
Tip: Served with a green salad or a beetroot salad on the side, the wild garlic dumplings make a great vegetarian main course. They also work very well as a side dish with meat and gravy.
Variation: Try the wild garlic dumplings with Parmesan instead of mountain cheese for a change.
Nutrition per serving
Wild garlic roughly chopped, not blended
The 100 g of fresh wild garlic only goes into the mixing bowl for 6 sec at speed 6. That is enough to chop the leaves without them losing their texture. Anyone who chops for longer or at a higher speed ends up with a dark green mush that makes the dough soggy and ruins the look of the finished dumpling. The small pieces of wild garlic should still be visible when you cut the dumpling open.
Just before the wild garlic, the 3 shallots are chopped for 5 sec at speed 5. They are included because plain wild garlic dumplings taste one-dimensional to us. The shallot adds a gentle sweetness that takes the edge off the garlic-like punch from the wild garlic. Anyone who prefers a stronger flavour can replace one of the three shallots with a garlic clove.
Why the wild garlic is not heated directly
The steaming step is only about the shallots and wild garlic in the 40 g of oil, and exactly for 3 min / Varoma / reverse direction / speed 1. Reverse direction is not just a detail here, it is essential, otherwise the blade would completely reduce the finely chopped wild garlic to a puree. The Varoma setting is gentler than 100°C because the oil buffers the heat and the wild garlic only warms through rather than cooking. Its aroma stays noticeably fresher than in any classic pesto that gets cooked through in a hot pan.
The milk follows next, 1 min at 60°C / reverse direction / speed 1. 60°C sounds low, but that is precisely the point: the milk becomes lukewarm and will not cook the eggs when they are added later. If the liquid were too hot, the 2 eggs would scramble on contact, the dough would seize up and fall apart during cooking.
The 15-minute resting time is non-negotiable
The 400 g of day-old bread rolls go in only after the warm egg milk, together with the eggs, salt and nutmeg. 25 sec / reverse direction / speed 3 with the spatula to help, and no more. We then leave the dough covered to rest for 15 minutes in the bowl. This resting time is where most home recipes fall short: anyone who shapes the dumplings straight away ends up with a wet, sticky dough that falls apart in the water. The bread rolls need time to absorb all the egg milk, after which the dough holds its shape.
Test with wet hands: a trial dumpling of about 80 g should hold together in your hand without any liquid seeping out. If the mixture sticks heavily, add a few breadcrumbs or let it rest for a few more minutes. If it crumbles, an extra egg yolk will help.
Simmer, do not boil
Eight dumplings in rapidly boiling water is a reliable way to split them open. We bring the salted water to the boil, then turn the heat down until there is only a gentle simmer. At this temperature the dumplings cook evenly for 15 minutes without the outside softening before the inside. The dumplings will rise to the surface after about 8 minutes of their own accord, but that is not a sign that they are done, just an indication. Leave them for the full 15 minutes, otherwise the centre will still be dense.
While the dumplings are simmering in the pot, we brown the 100 g butter in a frying pan. Proper brown butter, not just melted. The butter should smell lightly nutty, at which point the flavour pairs perfectly with the wild garlic aroma. Simply melted butter without browning would be wasted here: the dumplings need that roasted contrast.
Mountain cheese rather than Parmesan
We grate the mountain cheese right at the start, 6 sec at speed 5, and set it aside. Freshly grated from the mixing bowl it has a texture that no pre-grated cheese from a packet can match. Mountain cheese matters here because it does not steal the show from the wild garlic. Parmesan is too salty and too dominant for the young, fresh wild garlic flavour. Only once the dumplings are on the plate and drizzled with the brown butter does the cheese go on top. That way it stays as a distinct note in every bite and only melts slightly.
When things go wrong
The dumplings fall apart in the water
The most common cause: the water was boiling rather than simmering, or the resting time was too short. Solution: turn the heat down until only small bubbles rise from the bottom of the pot. And next time, observe the full 15-minute resting period.
The dough has no flavour
The most common cause: the wild garlic was heated too soon or for too long. We made this mistake ourselves at first and steamed for 5 minutes at 100°C. The aroma was completely gone. At 3 min / Varoma with reverse direction the wild garlic stays a subtle, fresh green and full of flavour.
The dough is too sticky to shape
The bread rolls were too fresh, or there was too much milk. Solution: knead in 30 g of dried breadcrumbs and leave to rest for a further 5 minutes. Shape only after that.
How we vary the recipe
With bacon: Fry 80 g diced bacon for 3 minutes at speed 1 before adding the shallots. This makes the dumplings a heartier option and works well with a clear broth.
With Parmesan: If no mountain cheese is to hand, 80 g Parmesan plus 20 g mild Gouda works well. The combination is closer to mountain cheese in character than Parmesan alone.
Vegan: Replace the eggs with 4 tbsp soya flour mixed with 8 tbsp water, the milk with oat milk, the mountain cheese with nutritional yeast flakes, and the butter with olive oil and a little tahini. We have done it this way twice: the dough turns out slightly softer but holds together.
What to serve alongside wild garlic dumplings
We usually serve the dumplings as a vegetarian main course with a green salad or a beetroot salad. Anyone who wants more wild garlic can add a spoonful of wild garlic cream, which amplifies the seasonal note. For something more hearty, the dumplings also go very well with roast pork and a rich dark gravy. And if there is still a jar of wild garlic pesto left from the day before, we pan-fry any leftover dumplings in it the following day. That is our second favourite way to eat this recipe.
Storing and reheating
Cooked dumplings keep in the fridge for 2 to 3 days in an airtight container. The best way to reheat them is sliced and fried in butter, which we call Knödel-Gröstl. Reheating in water also works but takes 8 minutes and leaves them softer than freshly cooked.
Freezing works well with cooked dumplings: pre-freeze them individually on a tray, then transfer to a bag. From frozen, place directly into gently simmering salted water for 12 minutes. We do not recommend freezing them raw: the wild garlic loses nearly all its aroma during slow thawing.
How other recipes approach this
Goes well with: Goulash and sauerkraut.
Also worth a try: White cabbage cooked in the Thermomix® Varoma.
We had a look at the best-known wild garlic dumpling recipes and noticed clear differences. Cookidoo® uses a grainy fresh cheese, three eggs and serves the dumplings in tomato sugo. Some recipes use mountain cheese in the dough and cook in water, finishing with melted butter and walnuts. Varoma-based versions tend to make the wild garlic flavour milder. HelloFresh uses a pretzel roll as the base and bakes in the oven. We deliberately stick with the classic bread roll dough with 100 g of fresh wild garlic inside, cooked in gently simmering salted water. This keeps the aroma strong and the dumplings light rather than dense.
