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Zupa ogórkowa
Sour pickled cucumber soup
Polish sour pickled-cucumber soup with potatoes and dill
Zupa ogórkowa is the soup Polish families make when the crock of brine-fermented cucumbers from summer starts to run low in late autumn: grated sour pickles and their cloudy brine simmered with potatoes, carrot and root vegetables, then softened with soured cream and a fistful of dill. It is a staple of canteen lunches and Sunday-in-the-country cooking, from Mazovia to Silesia, and it tastes tangy, garlicky and comforting all at once. Traditionally it is made on meat stock; here a good vegetable stock does the job. Use real ogórki kiszone (fermented in salt water), not sweet vinegar gherkins. Chef's tip: stir the cucumbers in only after the potatoes are soft; acid stops potatoes from softening, so if they go in together the potatoes stay hard.
- Total time
- 45 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- ⅔ oz butter
- 1 onionfinely chopped
- 2 carrotscoarsely grated
- 1 parsley rootcoarsely grated; or a small parsnip
- 1 ⅛ lb potatoespeeled and cut into 1.5 cm cubes
- 5 ½ cups vegetable stockcheck the label if you need it gluten free
- 1 bay leaf
- 14 oz brine-fermented cucumbers (ogórki kiszone)about 6 medium, coarsely grated
- ¾ cup pickle brinefrom the jar, to taste
- 5 ½ oz soured cream (śmietana 18%)
- 4 tbsp dillchopped
- ½ tsp black pepper
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Melt ⅔ oz butter in a large pot over a medium heat and soften 1 onion for 4–5 minutes, until translucent. Add 2 carrots and 1 parsley root and cook for 3 minutes, stirring.
8 minStep 2: Add 1 ⅛ lb potatoes, 5 ½ cups vegetable stock, 1 bay leaf and 2 allspice berries. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 12–15 minutes, until a potato cube crushes easily against the side of the pot.
15 minStep 3: Meanwhile, put 14 oz brine-fermented cucumbers (ogórki kiszone) in a small pan with a ladle of stock and simmer for 5 minutes; this softens them and takes the raw edge off.
5 minStep 4: Add the cucumbers to the soup and simmer for 5 minutes. Add ¾ cup pickle brine a little at a time, tasting, until the soup is pleasantly sour. It is usually salty enough from the brine, so taste before adding any salt.
5 minStep 5: Put 5 ½ oz soured cream (śmietana 18%) in a bowl and whisk in 2 ladles of hot soup, then pour it back into the pot off the heat. A common mistake is pouring cold cream straight into the boiling soup, which makes it split into flecks.
Step 6: Warm through without boiling, remove the bay leaf and allspice, add ½ tsp black pepper and stir in 4 tbsp dill. Serve hot; in Poland it comes with a slice of rye bread, which is not gluten free.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 220 kcal
- Protein
- 5 g
- Carbs
- 24 g
- Fat
- 11 g
- Fibre
- 5 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does zupa ogórkowa take?
- About 45 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
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