Recipe: "Stuffing" Soup Dumplings

Turkey Soup with Stuffing Dumplings

Let's talk about that most challenging of Thanksgiving leftovers:  Stuffing.  For some of you I understand that this is known as, "dressing".  In our home it's known as stuffing and a great deal of it is stuffed inside the turkey and cooked there.  It's Heaven. We love and always over do the stuffing.  We stuff the bird and we fill a couple of casserole dishes with the overflow.  How do we make this magical concoction?  Well, it's bread - torn into pieces and "staled" overnight; onions and celery sautéed in an obscene amount of butter; and thyme, salt and a huge amount of freshly ground pepper - all mixed together.  That's it.  The stuffing that cooks inside the turkey is transcendent.  The casserole  pan stuffing is also highly amazing especially with turkey gravy and/or stewed tomatoes (see last post) dolloped on it.

Please know that, of all of your Thanksgiving leftovers, stuffing freezes the best.  Small bags - especially if you can vacuum pack them - will hold up very well, and can be pulled out to recreate the dinner with the turkey I am hoping that you also have frozen.

But, you must - and I am not kidding here at all - you must save some of the leftover stuffing and make soup dumplings.

Now - if you think of yourself as a cook, and you hate waste, I am guessing that you have used all of the appropriate bones, etc. to create a nice big pot of Turkey Stock.  Excellent!  By the way if you haven't done it yet, try roasting or smoking the bones before you make the stock. Amazing flavor.

So, you have your stock - which also freezes well by the way - and you will be making some of your favorite turkey soup recipe. Go for it!  Just skip the noodles or rice and go with the stuffing dumplings instead.  You will thank me.

Recipe:  Turkey Stuffing Soup Dumplings

Note: If you can, hold off on adding the turkey meat until after the stuffing dumplings are floating.

Ingredients

2 cups of leftover stuffing
2 large eggs
6 tablespoons of all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Technique

In a bowl, whisk the eggs, flour, salt and pepper together until smooth
Add the stuffing and mix well until everything is well blended
Cover the bowl and reserve

Bring your soup to a simmer

As your soup is coming to a simmer, wet your hands and make small sized balls (about a tablespoon of the mixture,  maybe a bit smaller than a meatball) from the stuffing/egg mixture. Place the stuffing dumplings on a tray or pan until you make dumplings out of all of the mixture.

NOTE:  the moisture level of your stuffing will vary.  If the dumpling "dough"  is too soft to roll add flour a teaspoon at a time until it is firm enough to hold its shape.

Drop the dumplings into the simmering soup.  Cook until the dumplings float, about 3 - 4 minutes.  When the dumplings float,  add the turkey meat and taste to adjust seasonings.  You may want a bit more salt and pepper.

OK - Now - Stop what you are doing.  Ladle the soup and dumplings into a warm bowl, sit down, eat and make happy sounds!  Enjoy.

Please share this recipe.  I think folks end up tossing perfectly fine stuffing!  Thanks.

That is a fabulous, light and delicious soup dumpling!

With thanks to the Food Network and to the Beekman Boys who discovered this before I did!