Polish Pickle Soup – Zupa Ogórkowa
Courtesy of my Polish in-laws. A sour, vegetable and potato soup. Delicious for a cold day, and as with any soup, best served with a crusty sourdough bread.
If you are blessed with a well-stocked Polish deli, I highly recommend finding Cracovia cucumber puree (not sponsored). The key is that the pickles used in this recipe should be pickled via brining, rather than vinegar. This tends to be fairly particular to Polish pickles, so when looking for pickles to use in this recipe I would suggest checking that the ingredients are only salt and cucumbers. This recipe calls for a full 270g jar of Cracovia cucumber puree, with liquid (only about a tablespoon or two), so keep this in mind if you’re searching for a substitute.
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Pickle Soup – Zupa Ogórkowa
Equipment
- large saucepan
Ingredients
- 1 jar Cracovia cucumber puree
- ½ yellow onion sliced
- 1 carrot diced
- 2 celery stalks diced (top leafy stalk saved and set aside)
- 1-3 russet potatoes large, peeled and chopped
- 3 Tbsp vegeta
- 6 cups water
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp sour cream
- 2 Tbsp butter
Instructions
- Add butter to your saucepan and allow it to start melting. Add your onion, celery, and carrot (see note) and cook until the onions are thoroughly cooked down. You would like to see a fond beginning to form in the bottom of the pan (the pan starts to turn brown, but not burnt/black). This is flavor and you want to have a lot of it.
- Add potatoes, cucumber puree, and water. Add vegeta and stir to mix. Ladel out some of the warmed soup mixture to a mug, and add sour cream and flour. Whisk thoroughly to combine and add back to your soup.
- Bring the soup to a boil and simmer for at least one hour. Add salt and pepper to taste. Chop the reserved celery tops and add to the soup. Serve.
Notes
- Regarding the onions, celery, and carrot – what you’re really searching for here is mirepoix. This is a fancy term meaning 1 part celery, 1 part carrot, and 2 parts onion. Depending on the size of your onions and carrots, you may need to adjust to get the correct ratio.
- Why do you ladle out some of the soup to add the sour cream and flour? – Sour cream and flour are prone to clumping when added to a hot liquid. Doing this while the broth is warm (as opposed to boiling) and whisking in a separate smaller container, helps to prevent any clumps of flour or sour cream in your soup.
