Gashtel soup

This old-world recipe is filled with beefy goodness and childhood memories.

Gashtels, also called shredded noodles or tiny dumplings, are surrounded by a rich homemade beef broth.

It’s National Soup Month, and I’m tickled to share with you one of my Mom’s signature dishes: gashtel soup featuring homemade beef broth and tiny dumplings.

Americans love soup. According to Statista, 48 percent of Americans consume soup as part of their dinner. Boiling ingredients in a pot is an ancient cooking method that’s been adopted across many cultures. A contributor for ehow.com several years ago dove into the history of soup; if you’re thirsty for more, dig in.

If you simply want a wonderful, old-world recipe for a completely satisfying soup that my mother frequently made, you’ve come to the right place.

I like to think it was her Austrian-Hungarian background that inspired Mom to make us gashtel soup. What are gashtels you ask? A German-Russian dictionary defines them as tiny dumplings. Hungarians refer to them as reszelt teszta (shredded noodles). Whatever translation you choose, you won’t be able to buy them in a store, and making them is a labor of love—probably similar to Italian Nonnas making pasta by hand.

As a kid, it was an occasion when Mom made gashtel soup. Maybe somebody had a cold, and you’d hear “go ahead eat this; it’s good for what ails you.” Sometimes, I think she made it simply to say “I love you.” That’s certainly the emotions and memories that are evoked when I eat this soup. Mom’s recipe used a rich beef broth to pair with the gashtels, but I’ve also seen recipes using chicken broth. I guess either would work, but I’m sticking with our family’s tradition.

And if you make this soup, please start by making a homemade broth. It’s really not much work, and the depth of flavor in the broth is superior to anything out of a box. Remember, it’s broth and gashtels—that’s it—so use the best ingredients for great results.

Celery, onions, carrots, and soup bones are the start of a hearty homemade beef broth. While it simmers for hours, it's a snap to put together.

For a beef broth, roast the soup bones or short ribs (I used the latter) in the oven before adding to the stock pot. Then you simply hack up carrots, celery, and onions—don’t peel vegetables—before adding water and spices. Then it simmers on the stove 4 to 5 hours while you go about your business around the house. And the aroma that fills the kitchen, well, it transports me to the house I grew up in, and in my mind’s eye, I see Mom at the her avocado-green stove, apron on, stirring the soup pot.

Making the stock is the easy part to this recipe. The gashtels, I’ll be honest, are little devils. The dough has to be very stiff in order to grate by hand on a box grater. So, you may have to experiment to get the right consistency because a soft, pliable dough simply won’t grate.

Flour and eggs combine to make the stiff gashtel dough that will be grated into tiny dumplings.

Generally, the rule of thumb is an egg to a cup of flour for the dough. That’s it, although I also added a pinch of salt. If you’re using large or extra-large eggs, I’d probably start with 1 1/4 cup of flour. But as you knead the dough, keep adding a bit of flour as required to make it stiff. If you’re having trouble getting the dough to come together at all, add a few drops of water. Each time I wrestle with these stinkers, I gain new respect for Mom and the time it took to dry several towels filled with gashtels. But then, knowing her, she likely thought, "If I have to go through this (expletive), I'm making enough to use more than once!"

Use the side of the box grater with the large holes and carefully drag the dough ball along the grater. Gashtels will be in various sizes, some the size of small peas, others will be longer. All will need to dry for several hours on a clean towel before adding them to the soup.

After grating the gashtels, I'm relieved to have all fingers still attached! This was definitely a labor of love in honor of Mom.

When it’s time to bring the soup together, strain the vegetables, bones, and bay leaves from the broth. I like to put the the stock in the refrigerator overnight to make it easier to skim the fat. Bring the strained broth to a gentle boil and add the dried gashtels, cooking them for 8 minutes (until tender).

Mom was always generous with the gashtels, so of course I’d go that route as well. I used 2 large eggs and nearly 3 cups of flour, which created enough gashtels to spread out and cover the surface of a kitchen towel. I’ll likely use these with half the broth I made, freezing the rest of the stock for another soup.

I hope you’ll give this soup a try. It's definitely worth the labor! The gashtels have a satisfying chew to them, and together with the beef broth, it’s comfort and love in a bowl.

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Slow cooker classic Bolognese

This trusty kitchen appliance creates a rich ragû while you can go about your day.

Bolognese with tagliatelle

Only my closest friends know this, but I sleep with the Golden Girls every night.

Let me rephrase; I have to fall asleep while watching The Golden Girls, and have done this for a number of years. I know most of the zingers by heart, down to the timing, and that Sophia’s secret pasta sauce takes 14 hours to make. “If this sauce were a man, I’d get naked and make love to it,” she says while standing at her stove.

My weird obsession for old TV sitcoms aside, old-school Italian cooks know that a good Bolognese is going to take some time to make. I have a dear friend, Kelley DiValerio Gonzalez, who said her Italian Nonna in Philadelphia used to spend five to six hours making her pasta sauce “adding wine periodically.” While I don’t have a drop of Italian blood in my veins, I do have a deep appreciation for tradition. In this kitchen, wisdom and inspiration from home cooks is the peg on which we hang our aprons.

However, while I’m unloading my dark secrets on you, let me also confess that for weeknight pasta dinners, I have been known to open a jar of sauce, doctor it up a bit, and add pasta for a quick supper. Italian Nonnas everywhere are clutching at their hearts and gasping “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!”

But listen, Nonna, few people can spend several hours babysitting the perfect Bolognese. That’s why this slow cooker ragû Bolognese is the perfect marriage of convenience and low-and-slow. Plus, January is National Slow Cooker Month, which makes it a perfect time to haul out that trusted kitchen appliance and make something comforting for supper.

But first, a quick detour to share some Missouri trivia. The crock-pot’s inventor, Irving Naxon (Nachumsohn), sold his business in 1971 to Kansas City’s Rival Manufacturing when he retired. His “Naxon Beanery” was inspired by the Jewish cooking tradition of taking crocks to town bakeries in order to prepare the Sabbath stew known as cholent. Rival successfully marketed the crock-pot as the first slow cooker, taking Naxon's invention to another level.

Of course, the history of ragû Bolognese goes much farther back in time—to the 18th century—when a cook served the dish to Cardinal Barnaba Chiaramonti. The cardinal later became Pope Pius VII and his cook, Alberto Alvisi, was credited for creating a heavenly dish that is cherished even today.

One of the first written recipes for Bolognese appeared in a late 19th-century cookbook that called for the meat (veal) and vegetables to be cooked in broth—not tomato sauce—and that cream should be added to finish the ragû. Over the years as the recipe evolved, tomato sauce would become a common ingredient, but garlic, a staple of Italian cuisine, would not be added. I see lots of garlic and herbs in recipes from celebrity chefs to church ladies, but it’s not traditional.

In fact, according to the Italian Academy of Cuisine, a classic ragû Bolognese should include beef, pancetta, onion, carrot, celery, tomato purée, broth, dry white wine, milk, salt, and pepper. And while many Americans serve Bolognese with spaghetti, tagliatelle is the pasta you’ll find in this dish when visiting Italy.

DiGregorio's Market on The Hill in St. Louis is a mecca for Italian cooks.

For me, any respectable Bolognese begins with a trip to The Hill, St. Louis’ Italian neighborhood, and DiGregario’s Italian Market for canned San Marzano tomatoes from Italy, tagliatelle, pancetta, and Parmesan. Missouri Baking Company sells Italian bread worthy to mop up leftover sauce.

With shopping complete, it’s time to start the sauce. I’m going to let it simmer in the slow cooker overnight, but the steps prior to mixing everything together and switching the button on are crucial. Softening and lightly browning the soffritto (onions, celery, and carrots) helps to deepen the flavor, as does browning the meat in the frying pan.

Next, let’s talk canned tomatoes. Busy cooks tend to like shortcuts and either buy diced or crushed tomatoes, but these are overly processed, and many experts agree it changes the flavor. Use the whole tomatoes and just gently crush them by hand. It’s what Nonna would do. Actually, she’d probably go to her garden, pick vine-ripened tomatoes, roast them with olive oil and a pinch of salt, and then crush them by hand.

Also, trust tradition and add the milk. Other than being part of this recipe since the 19th century, milk helps to tenderize the meat and balance the tomatoes’ acidity. Don’t worry; it won’t curdle using this low heat. In the end, you’ll have a meaty and rich sauce to swoon over.

You also may ask is it worth a trip to buy the ribbon-style pasta versus the box of dried spaghetti you have in the pantry. Think of it this way: surface area. The ragû clings better to the wider pasta, not to mention that tradition thing, but if you’d rather not make a trip to the market, what’s in your pantry will work.

Oh, let’s face it; I’d eat this ragû right out of the slow cooker with a spoon and a piece of Italian bread. Actually, it’s best to toss the pasta with the sauce; don’t just ladle the ragû over the cooked pasta. This allows the sauce to cling to all the noodles, and it won’t hack off Nonna.

This recipe will create enough to feed six to eight people, so if your family is smaller, the sauce freezes beautifully. Better yet, put some in a jar and share it with a neighbor to celebrate National Spaghetti Day (Jan. 4).

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Try these hardworking pantry organizing tips

Start 2021 with a clean and orderly pantry.

It must be in our DNA to approach a new year with a need to improve something. Given a fresh start, most of us want to get the year off on the right foot. If you turn this renewed energy toward your kitchen pantry, you’ll be better organized and more efficient in your meal prep. Let’s dive in.

This is NOT a clean and orderly pantry! But after a few hours and a trip to the Dollar Tree for a few supplies, my pantry was transformed.

This is a photo of my sad pantry. As you can see, it needs help. Now, I’d love to spend thousands on a beautiful custom closet, but I don’t have the funds or the space. So, I did a little research on how a pantry can work hard and smart for you and your family.

Experts at the St. Louis Closet Company suggest I start by addressing the clutter (hello, clutter) and purging cookware I do not use. Toss expired spices, canned goods, and other items. (I found a can of black beans that were two years old and a small jar of allspice from the 1990s.)

After everything has been removed and the space cleaned, it’s recommended I visualize what I want the pantry to look like. In my pantry, the two issues are the wire shelves and the wasteland at the bottom of the closet. It would also be nice to have space to store soft drinks other than the case sitting by my back door.

Time to visit the Dollar Tree store by my house, which is always a good time. It reminds me of the days when we visited the Woolworth dime store at River Roads Mall in north St. Louis (which has since been demolished). It was such a treat to go to the mall on a Saturday night. When we moved, our dime store became Ben Franklin on South Grand Avenue (also closed). Sigh.

It’s usually best to go into Dollar Tree with an open mind and flexible plan. When I go with something specific in mind—like this time after I watched a number of pantry renovation videos using Dollar Tree products—I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted, but I could buy what I needed. I had to mix white with blue for bins and baskets because there wasn’t enough of one color. The cute black chalk tags seen in a video were not in any of the three stores I visited, so I found colorful peel-off stickers to label containers. All told, I filled my cart at Dollar Tree with nine containers, plus a package of tags, permanent markers, two pie plates and a small bag of glass marbles (to make a baking spice Lazy Susan) for under $20. While cleaning out the pantry, I found several glass apothecary jars that I emptied and sent through the dishwasher so I could incorporate them into the design.

To put the pantry back together, St. Louis Closet Company experts suggested I keep frequently used items easily accessible. Canned goods should be easily identifiable. I didn’t have a pull-out drawer, but I found a tiered wire shelf in the basement that holds about a dozen or so smaller cans. The large cans of tomatoes stack next to the shelf.

With inexpensive bins and containers, it's easy to organize your pantry to assist in easy meal planning.

Bulky packaging can take up a lot of space, so food storage systems help me organize flour, sugar, and dry pasta.

What should the well organized pantry have in it? For that, I went to trusted sources: experienced home cooks. The most popular pantry items were oil (mainly olive, but also avocado), vinegar, canned tomatoes and tomato paste, dried pasta, chicken and beef broth, and garlic.

Anne Miller also keeps dark chocolate in her cupboard; we are sisters of cacao. My college roommate Barb Anderson makes sure the number for Imo’s Pizza delivery is inside her pantry door. She’s not wrong.

Peanut butter got a thumbs up from a couple people, including Pat Fisher who also keeps tuna and raspberry jam in her diverse pantry. Ramen noodles and rice were tagged as necessary items by a few cooks, and Melissa Corbin advised a cook keeps red and white wine in her pantry. Mushrooms of the canned (Marcy Epps Watson) and dry (Neala Schwartzberg McCarten) varieties were mentioned.

Cooks Linda Jarrett and Lory Cosner, as well as Carol Schlitt and Elaine Warner keep a variety of canned beans on hand; I bet they will like this featured recipe from University of Missouri Extension. Cathy Babcock Johnson gave a nod to her Japanese heritage by sharing she’s never without good soy sauce, ginger, and mirin. And Fran Folsom passed along wisdom from her mother, who told her you’ll never go hungry if you have a can of Spam in your cupboard. Fran, I’d offer this also works in a quick fried rice.

Keep canned beans and tomatoes in your pantry and you can make these vegetarian enchiladas, a delicious and filling family meal.

The spice rack should include, in addition to salt and pepper, garlic powder, and minced onions. Cousin David Klausmeyer added smoked paprika and curry powder to that list. David, we are not only related by blood, but by spice, as I have a variety of paprika and curry powders at home.

To this list of staples, I’d have to add pickles plus green and black olives. But no matter what we purchase, I think our well-stocked pantries will be of particular importance to us this year as America stares at winter during the season of COVID-19.

But take heart; pantry cooking can be adventurous (maybe not as adventurous as cooking with Spam, but I digress). This recipe for meatless enchiladas will serve a family and is packed with protein. To the original recipe, I added the cumin and coriander—I mean, the spice rack had been organized by alphabet, so why not? For a side dish, serve fried corn but leave out the bacon to keep the meal completely vegetarian.

For more ideas about cooking from a well-stocked pantry, visit the Canned Food Alliance.

And if you do a pantry makeover this year, drop a photo or description in the comments! Happy 2021, everybody, and stay well.

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