🇩🇪 Germany · Swabia (Baden-Württemberg)
MaultaschensuppeSwabian stuffed pasta soup
A Swabian soup of Maultaschen, large square pasta pockets filled with minced meat, spinach, onion and bread, served in a clear beef broth and scattered with chives.
Origin and history
Maultaschen are a Swabian speciality that is eaten in broth, geschmälzt or pan-fried. According to tradition, the lay brother Jakob at Maulbronn monastery hid meat in dough during Lent, which gave them the nickname Herrgottsbescheisserle; the monastery itself says the story is only a legend that cannot be proven. Other theories hold that Protestant refugees brought the dish from Carinthia, or that it came from Italy as a relative of ravioli, and the sources do not settle the question. World Maultasche Day was founded in 2019 and falls on Maundy Thursday, traditionally a day for making them.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 4 servings
- Total time
- 2 h 30 min
- Hands-on
- 1 h
Ingredients
- 1 kg2.2 lb beef short rib (hohe Rippe), for the broth
- 500 g1.1 lb beef soup bones
- 1 bunch Suppengrün (leek, carrot, celeriac, parsley), cleaned and roughly chopped
- 1 onion, peeled, for the broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 8 peppercorns
- 2 liters2 quarts water, plus 1 tbsp salt for the broth
- 375 g3 cups plain flour, for the dough, plus more for rolling
- 3 medium eggs, for the dough
- 2 tbsp oil, for the dough
- 50 g1 3/4 oz fresh spinach, washed and finely chopped
- 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped; keep a quarter for the garnish and use the rest in the filling
- 1/2 bunch chives, snipped
- 200 g7 oz mixed minced meat (beef and pork)
- 1 egg, for the filling
- 30 g1/3 cup breadcrumbs
- salt, white pepper, freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
- 2 onions, diced, fried in butter as garnish
- 1 tbsp butter, for the onions
Method
-
1. Put the beef, bones, chopped Suppengrün, the peeled onion, bay leaf, peppercorns, 1 tbsp salt and 2 liters of water in a large pot.
-
2. Bring to a boil, skim off the foam, then simmer over medium heat for about 2 hours.
-
3. While the broth cooks, work the flour, eggs, oil, 3-4 tbsp cold water and 1/4 tsp salt into a smooth dough. Shape it into a ball and rest it for 30 minutes.
-
4. Mix the spinach, parsley (keeping a quarter back), chives, egg, minced meat and breadcrumbs, and season with salt, white pepper and nutmeg.
-
5. Roll the dough out thin and cut it into diamonds about 5 cm (2 in) across. Put a spoonful of filling on half of them, brush the edges with water, cover with a second diamond and press the edges firmly shut.
-
6. Strain the broth through a sieve and season it. Heat it to a gentle simmer.
-
7. Cook the Maultaschen in the broth in batches for 10-12 minutes, then keep them warm.
-
8. Fry the diced onions in the hot butter until golden.
-
9. Serve the Maultaschen in the broth, scattered with the fried onions and the remaining parsley.
Notes
- Traditional Maultaschen are larger and the filling richer. ZDF describes minced meat and bratwurst meat (Brät), blanched spinach, sautéed onions, eggs and soaked bread rolls, seasoned with marjoram and nutmeg, with bacon, leek or parsley in some regions. A Swiss radio recipe (for 12 people) uses Brät, diced ham, diced smoked sausage, leek and soaked rolls. This soup recipe follows the lighter filling of a German magazine so it suits a home soup bowl.
- To make larger pockets, as in the Swiss recipe, roll the dough in long strips about 14 cm wide, spoon the filling along the centre, fold over, seal, press pockets about 8 to 10 cm apart and cut them apart. Cook them in barely simmering salted water, not boiling, for 5 to 10 minutes after they rise, depending on size.
- Cooking the pasta in plain salted water and then warming it in the seasoned broth keeps the broth clear (one German magazine recipe does exactly this); the magazine recipe used here cooks them directly in the broth for 10 to 12 minutes.
- Garnishes: fried onions (as here), parsley and chives.
- Maultaschen are also served geschmälzt (tossed in butter with fried onions) or geröstet (sliced and pan-fried with egg or onion), often with potato salad; those are not soups.
- Short-cut: one German magazine recipe uses 500 g of packaged fresh noodle dough and 750 g of raw fine bratwurst meat mixed with parsley and chives, piped along strips of dough; the pieces cook in 6 to 8 minutes in salted water.
- Make ahead: the broth and the uncooked Maultaschen (freeze them on a tray) keep well; cook the pasta only when serving.
Adapted from lecker.de, Schwäbische Maultaschen (with broth), lecker.de, Rinderkraftbrühe mit Maultaschen, and SRF Radio SRF 1 Kochen, Schwäbische Maultaschen.
At the festivals
No festival we list has printed it on a menu yet.