Thursday, June 23, 2011

Maultaschen: Feed Bags...wait whaaaa?


Thats right, the German to English translation for Maultaschen is "mouth (or feed) bags." Sounds kind of gross, but never judge a dish by its name! I was in Germany last summer, Tuebingen to be exact in the southwest kind of near Stuttgart for a friend's wedding. Well, we had a ton of free time and since I wasn't staying with a family this time I figured it would be a little more difficult to find where to go for authentic German cuisine, in Germany ha. It was only difficult because it had been years and years since I was in Tuebingen, and even still I don't remember being there 10 years ago!

Anyways, we had a free day to explore the city and all it has to offer. During our very very long walk, I was starting to scope out all of the restaurants and everything souned so good. It was difficult to pick just one place, but finally I did. We actually ended up at the same place that we had been previous days before having a beer. Across the street was one of my FAVORITE things to eat, Doener Kebap, but I really just wanted German food...even better, Swabian!

After looking at the menu and translating what I knew, I decided to go with something that I wasn't too sure about, and that happened to be Maultaschen! I know I had heard of it, but I couldn't remember what exactly it was. When the plate arrive I wanted to cry, it looked and smelled amazing. It was two large 'ravioli' and a pile of german potato salad. Inside the ravioli is a spiced meat mixture with a very light gravy over the top. This was one of the best meals I had in Germany.

I've come up with a recipe which I have made twice since last summer using won ton wrappers as the noodle. I mean, if you want to make the noodle yourself, by all means go for it, but I am lazy.

Filling:
1 tb butter
6 strips medium-lean bacon, cut into cubes
3 md onions, diced
1/4 lb fresh sausage meat (sweet Italian sausage)
1 hard roll, without crust, and best when stale
1/2 lb frozen spinach
1/2 lb ground meat or smoked sausage
1 c Bauernbratwurst or leftover roast, stew meat, etc., diced (really, anything!)
3 eggs
3 tb to 4 tb chopped fresh parsley
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 egg
3 tb milk

Melt the butter in a skillet and fry the bacon with the onions until translucent. Combine the bacon mixture with the sausage meat. Moisten the roll in water, press dry. Put every thing in a food processor, I mean, everything and lightly combine it. Then fold in the eggs, parsley, and seasonings; mix together.
Take a whiff, this recipe smells as delicious as it tastes!

So take your wonton wrapper, and put quite a bit of mixture in the middle, fold in half, into a rectangle. Next, fold all of the sides over slightly and press with a fork to ensure the filling doesn't fall out during cooking.

and this is the home made version
To cook, I usually boil some broth because I like to eat it like a dumpling. You will need to cook these for some time, maybe 10 minutes in boiling water or more. Test for doneness by pressing on it, should be firm when ready. Serve in a bowl with broth spooned over, or if you want to make it very pretty like the pic I took above, serve with my german potato salad!

If you don't dare or care to try, then come over and I will feed it to you, and you will love it!

2 comments:

  1. mmm, can you make it for me???

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  2. Thanks Dan! We were visiting family in Tuebingin when I first tasted these many years ago. Our hosts served them in exactly the same way with the broth and sliced potato salad, it was delicious. Thank you so much for the recipe I had no idea what they were called.

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