Raspeballer (Komle)
Dense potato dumplings simmered with salted meat, served with rutabaga, butter and crisp bacon.
Cultural Context & History
Known by a dozen names across the coast, the potato dumpling is so beloved that many workplaces still break for komle every Thursday. Grated raw potato binds with flour into a filling, frugal parcel.
Ingredients
- 600 g raw potatoes, peeled
- 200 g cold boiled potatoes, mashed
- 150 g barley flour
- 50 g wheat flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 150 g salted pork or bacon, cubed
- 2 litres mutton or ham broth
- Boiled salted meat, vossakorv and mashed swede, to serve
Recommended Tools
- Box graterGrates the raw potato fine enough to bind the dough.
- Muslin clothWrings the grated potato dry for a firm dough.
- Large deep potHolds the broth to simmer the dumplings without crowding.
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Step-by-Step Instructions
- 1
Finely grate the raw potatoes and squeeze out as much water as you can through a clean cloth.
- 2
Work them together with the cold mashed potato, salt and both flours into a firm, workable dough.
- 3
With wet hands, shape into fist-sized balls, pressing a few cubes of pork into the centre of each.
- 4
Bring the broth to a boil, slip in the dumplings, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 45 minutes until cooked through.
- 5
Lift out and serve with boiled salted meat, vossakorv and mashed swede.
Chef's Tip
Squeeze the grated potato really dry and shape without delay — raw potato weeps and darkens quickly, and a wet dough will slump apart in the pot.
Chef's Tip
Poach one test dumpling first: if it loosens in the broth, work a little more flour into the rest before shaping.
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