Pennsylvania Dutch: Nanny’s Pepper Pot Soup

In-Season Winter Recipes Beef Soups & Stews

My grandmother didn’t live to see my interest in food flourish to a point where I wanted to learn what she could teach me, and she didn’t leave any recipes behind. But my mom has described her technique for pepper pot stew, how she rolled out the dough for the dumplings, cut them with a pizza cutter, and dumped them in the soup to cook, working at top speed so the potatoes were done just right. I don’t have any measurements, just a list of ingredients— ones that sound pretty bland to me. But I think it’s enough.

By Jill Waldbieser / Photography By Jackie Botto | November 06, 2020

Ingredients

SERVINGS: 4 to 6 Serving(s)

For the Dough

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the Soup

1 pound lean ground beef*
1 stalk celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 teaspoons dried marjoram
8 cups beef or vegetable stock
3 white potatoes, diced
*alternately, you can make this with leftover roast beef, my mom’s favourite

Preparation

1. To make the dough: Whisk together the flour and baking powder in a large bowl. In a small bowl, beat together the eggs, salt and pepper. Add the eggs to the flour mixture and stir until a sticky dough forms.

2. Flour your work surface very well. (I cover my work surface with waxed paper or parchment paper, then sprinkle the whole thing with flour). Dust your hands well with flour, scrape the dough onto your prepared work surface and knead the dough a bit, adding more flour if the dough is too sticky to handle.

3. With a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a roughly ⅛-inch-thick rectangle. Use a pizza cutter dipped in flour to cut the dough into ½-inch squares. Let the dough rest while you make the soup.

4. To make the soup: In a large pot over medium heat, brown the ground beef, breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Drain the rendered beef fat from the pot, then add the celery, carrots, marjoram and stock. Increase the heat and bring to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook until they are just tender, about 5 minutes.

5. Quickly add all the prepared dough squares to the boiling soup and stir. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 10 minutes. Do not lift the lid! After 10 minutes, uncover the pot and cut into the dough with a knife to check for doneness. Cook a bit longer if needed.