Italian bread dumplings in beef bone broth

Italian 25 Mins Prep · 530 Mins Cook

1. To prepare the broth, roughly chop the carrots (keeping the skin on), rinse and roughly chop 2 leeks, halve the garlic widthways and roughly chop the celery, including the leaves.
2. Preheat the oven to 230°C, gas mark 8.
3. Place the beef bones, carrots, leeks and garlic in a large roasting dish and roast for 20 minutes before tossing and roasting for a further 20 minutes, or until everything is deeply browned.
4. Fill a large stockpot with the water, add the celery, bay leaves, peppercorns and vinegar. Add the roasted bones and vegetables into the pot along with any excess juices.
5. Cover with the lid and bring to a gentle boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook with the lid slightly off, skimming off any foam and excess fat, for at least 8 hours to 24 hours. (Don’t leave it on the stove unattended, simply cool and continue simmering the next day, adding more water if need be.)
6. Remove the pot from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
7. Strain the broth using a fine-mesh sieve and discard the bones and vegetables.
8. Leave to cool, then refrigerate overnight.
9. Remove the solidified fat from the top of the chilled broth.
10. To make the dumplings, rinse and finely chop the remaining leek, lightly whisk the eggs and finely chop the chives.
11. Heat the oil in a frying pan and sauté the leeks over a low heat until tender. Add in 50g of vegetables from your fridge and sauté until golden. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.
12. Cube the bread.
13. In a large bowl combine the bread, eggs, milk and stir.
14. Add in the leek mixture along with the chives, flour and a pinch of salt. Stir the mixture until the ingredients bind together. If the mixture feels too dry, add extra milk.
15. Set the mixture aside for 15 minutes to absorb all the liquid.
16. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
17. To form the dumplings, wet your hands and scoop out a small handful of the mixture, pressing hard to ensure it binds and roll it between your palms to form a ball. It should be the size of a golf ball. Repeat this process until all the mixture is finished.
18. Drop the balls into the lightly salted boiling water and cook for 10 minutes, lowering the heat if the boil is too rapid. Keep them warm in a low temperature oven while you finish cooking the rest of the balls.
19. Serve the dumplings in some warm bone broth.
20. TOP TIP: Make a large batch of broth (without the dumplings), portion it into containers and freeze for a future meal.

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