Soup Recipes

Mushroom Soup (Hubová Polievka)

Ingredients: 1oz dried mushrooms (or 8oz fresh ones), 5 cups water, 3 large potatoes, 4 slices thick smoked bacon, 2 tablespoons flour, 2 tablespoons sour cream, salt Prep Time: 30 minutes My friends Chris and Patricia came for a weekend visit during my 2010 trip to Slovakia. They live in or near Munich. I took them on a short country tour: Bratislava (the capital), Bojnice (fairytale castle and a spa) and Banská Bystrica (my beautiful hometown). And of course, the tour involved much sampling of Slovak food. Chris very much enjoyed the Slovak cuisine, but Patricia was little less impressed. Read the Rest…

Green Bean Soup (Polievka zo Zelenej Fazule)

Ingredients: 1lb of green beans, 1.5L (~6.5 cups) of water, 2 small potatoes, 40g flour (5 tablespoons), 40g butter (1/3 stick), 2dl (small 8oz tub) of sour cream, vinegar, 1g (teaspoon) of sugar, dill Prep Time: 45 minutes Here is a recipe for another popular soup, one made with green beans (zelená fazuľa) and potatoes (zemiaky). Green beans, the immature bean pods, are quite healthy. They are high in vitamin C, and also contain insoluble fibers which aid in digestion. The recipe comes from “Recepty starej mamy” (Grandmother’s recipes), a classic cookbook from 1984 by M. Martišová and F. Martiš. Read the Rest…

Chicken Noodle Soup (Kuracia Polievka)

Ingredients: few carrots, parsley root, few small onions, one small chicken, oil Prep Time: About 30 minutes My grandma makes, hands-down, the best ever chicken noodle soup. Part of her secret are her hand-made noodles. The other part is the recipe, which is posted here. As you will see it’s quite simple. The Slovak version of chicken [noodle] soup (kuracia or slepačia polievka) is bit different from the American kind. First, it is always clear and “brothy”. Second, Slovaks use slightly different ingredients. While celery is an integral part of the American version (or at least the canned version I Read the Rest…

Sauerkraut Soup for Hundred (Kapustnica pre Sto)

For one 4-gallon batch (~50 servings) Ingredients: 8 lb sauerkraut, 1 gallon water, 3 lb of pork neck, 16 peppercorns, 4 spoons caraway, 8 cloves garlic, 8 whole cloves, tablespoon crushed nutmeg, handful dried mushrooms, 7 onions, 7 apples, 3 lbs sausage and bacon, 4 tablespoons paprika, 4 tablespoons red pepper, 1.5lb tub of sour cream, few tablespoons flour Prep Time: 4 hours Regular Size (~12 servings) Ingredients: 2 lb sauerkraut, 1 quart water, 0.8 lb of pork neck, 4 peppercorns, 1 spoons caraway, 2 cloves garlic, 2 whole cloves, bit of crushed nutmeg, smaller handful dried mushrooms, 2 onions, Read the Rest…

Caraway Soup (Rascová Polievka)

Ingredients: Water, celery, caraway seeds and dumplings (3 egg yolks, flour and salt) Prep Time: Half an hour Here is the recipe for Grandma Gasso’s Caraway Seed Soup. She does not work off of exact recipes. Like all old Slovak ladies it is a pinch of this and a taste of that and that is how she cooked. She is 98 now so she does not do much cooking these days! This soup is very simple. Water, celery, caraway seeds and dumplings. There is nothing fancy about this but it is hearty with the dumplings and delicious. The smell of Read the Rest…