by Darci Block
This recipe for knephla (often spelled knoephla) came from my mother-in-law’s Grandmother Christina Breitenbucher/Bertsch. She came from Russia (Germans from Russia) when she was a year old. Her family was very poor, but they always had food on the table. She said there was not always beef or pork meat, but there was plenty of flour and chickens/turkeys for eggs and sometimes meat. When someone dropped in to visit you just cut the meat up in smaller bites and added more broth and knephla. It also was a go-to for Lent Wednesday soup supper nights for youth group.
Different techniques for prepping the knephla have evolved through the generations. Great-grandmother Bertsch used a spoon to drop knephla in the boiling soup. Grandma Ann, with five children and numerous grandkids would roll the dough out and cut with a knife. Mom Chris uses a pizza cutter which I also use and a big spatula to scoop from the countertop to the pot. Knephla can also be cooked in boiling water (15-20 minutes), drained and fried with potatoes, onions, and sausage.
Darci Block and her husband, Adam, have two children and have been attending Calvary for a year, recently becoming members. Adam is a stay at home parent and Darci has been a laboratory medical director at Mayo Clinic for 12 years. They enjoy camping, family movie night, and going on road trips.