Dice the white bread slices and roast them until golden brown in clarified butter, while bringing the water for the dumplings to the boil (without adding any table salt).
Squeeze the peeled, boiled potatoes and season with salt and, if you like, with nutmeg - I also season with fondor from Maggi or the aromatic seasoning from Kania. Mix in the potato flour with a wooden spoon with a hole and finally brew the potato dough with 1 or 2 soup ladles of boiling water to make a medium-firm dumpling dough; if the dough is too soft, a tablespoon of potato starch can be used to get the right consistency. Then salt the cooking water.
Form dumplings with wet hands, make a hollow in the middle and fill it with the toasted bread or baked peas. I prefer baked peas, so I save a work step - then close the trough and form nice dumplings. Prepare all the dumplings and then add them to the boiling water one after the other. A little tip from me: Put a pinch of dissolved potato starch in the cooking water, this works against immediate overcooking and the dumplings shimmer excellently.
The cooking time is 25 minutes, of which the dumplings should cook gently covered for the first 5 minutes and then simmer under the boiling point with the lid half open; If necessary, quench with cold water if the cooking water is flowing.
The reason why the dumplings are filled with baked peas or roasted white bread rolls (we call them Monala in Franconia) is that the dumplings in the middle should not be as moist as possible.
Cottonna dumplings are served with sauerbraten and game dishes in Franconia.
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