Kapusnyak ... Or is that Kartoplyanka?

 

The chill is coming back in the air, and that means it's soup, stew or as I like to call it, schtoop season!  It doesn't look all that great, and I wasn't going for presentation, but the soup above is a take on Ukranian sauerkraut soup:  Kapusnyak.  (Kapusta = cabbage).  I ended up making an almost full 8 quart Dutch oven full of this.  The traditional soup has one potato diced up for starch -- perhaps to cut the tang of the sauerkraut?  I added quite a lot more potato, hence the ? on whether or not to call this potato soup, Kartoplyanka!  It doesn't look too pretty, but it's delish!

Ingredients:

About 1/2 large head white cabbage*, cut to thin strips

1 lb package of sauerkraut with liquid

1 lb carrots - my lazy cheat here is to use the "matchsticks" (or I would use teeny-sized baby peeled carrots)  

1/2 large Vidalia onion chopped 

6 Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed, peel on, cubed approx 1"

~1 quart reserved liquid from "Smoked" Pork

Bone broth or water to suit -- probably 2 more quarts.

2 lbs coarse cut  "Smoked" Pork

Seasonings to taste:  Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute, white pepper powder, celery root  (the official recipe only calls for salt and pepper)

Preparation:

• In Dutch oven bring about 1 quart liquid to boil, toss in fresh cabbage and onion and simmer until cooked almost fully.
• Add additional quart or so of  liquid and potatoes, bring back to boil then turn down to simmer until potatoes are mostly cooked. 
• Add carrots (if you use larger carrots, add with potatoes)
• When veggies are fully cooked, add in the sauerkraut and pork.  I suggest letting these flavors heat and meld for about 15 minutes before seasoning.  

 

Additional Comments:

This soup turned out soooo good.  Even with the pork, it is quite low fat (not that this is a goal of mine in soup making, but I only add pork meat.  The original recipe only calls for about a half pound pork for 2 quarts of water.  I tend to make soups that are complete meals -- hence more of both pork and potatoes -- and so they also tend to look more like stews in the end.  

The low carbers can leave the potatoes out entirely, though I would suggest at least add one small one to cut the acidity, and veggies can just leave out the pork entirely.  I'd probably add some mushrooms if I were to make a vegetarian version of this.

The other night my husband came home rather late and I was already asleep.  He nuked himself a bowl and the smell of it woke me up and had me wanting soup!  I have frozen quite a bit of this and as the weather gets colder it is nice to have the chest freezer filling up with quick meals.  The ultimate "fast food".