Today we’re going to make an easy soup that can be made with almost anything you have in your fridge. Below is the basic recipe for a Russian soup. It’s great tasting on its own, but you can add olives, capers, lemon, bell peppers, a variety of smoked meats and sausages. It all depends on your imagination and taste preferences.
Preparation time: 20 min.
Overall Cooking Time: 1.5 hours.
Approx. Cost: $17
The end amount is roughly 12 portions. The best part is that you will not have to worry about making meals for the next four-five days and can focus on exams.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. of meat
- About 5 medium potatoes
- 1 small onion
- 1 carrot
- 4 pickles in brine
- Cured-cooked meat products (I’m using long, thin, dry-smoked sausages)
- 1 cup of vegetable juice
- 1-2 bay leaves
- Olive oil for frying
- Salt and pepper to taste
1. Wash the meat, put it in a soup pot and add about 6-8 cups of water. Put on a high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and remove the foam/scum with a sieve. Close the lid and let it cook for 1-1.5 hours. Remove the meat and set aside to cool.
2. Pour 2 tbsp. of oil in a small frying pan and add the chopped onions and grated carrots, then stir until golden brown.
3. Cut the sausages and boiled meat into small cubes or slices. In general, you can use anything that is cooked meat (ham, salami, etc).
4. Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes. Then bring the broth back to high heat and add potatoes, meat, sausages and the onion-carrot mix. Boil for about 10 min, until the potatoes are ready and soft. Then add pickles, bay leaves, vegetable juice and salt/pepper. Boil for another three minutes and turn the heat off.
It is better to let your soup stand covered for about two hours so that the taste of the ingredients unite more, but you can also serve it right after it is done.
