Kapustnica recipe

Slovakia's Christmas soup, in which sauerkraut and its juice simmer for a long time with smoked pork, sausage and dried mushrooms until sour, smoky and earthy notes merge.

15 hoursmedium12 ingredients

Ingredients

• 1000 g sauerkraut
• 30 g dried mushrooms
• 400 g smoked pork
• 300 g smoked sausage
• 1 onion
• 2 tbsp lard
• 1 tbsp sweet paprika
• 3 clove garlic
• 1 tsp caraway seeds
• 3 bay leaves
• 200 ml sour cream
• 2250 ml water

How to make Kapustnica

1. Soak 30 g dried mushrooms (porcini or other wild mushrooms) in 2250 ml warm water for 1 hour, then chop them and keep the soaking water.
2. Melt 2 tbsp lard in a large pot and fry 1 chopped onion for 5 minutes until golden; take the pot off the heat and stir in 1 tbsp sweet paprika so it does not burn.
3. Add 1 kg sauerkraut with its juice (chopped if the strands are long), 2 l water, 400 g smoked pork in one piece, the mushrooms with their strained soaking water, 3 crushed garlic cloves, 1 tsp caraway seeds and 3 bay leaves; bring to the boil.
4. Cover and simmer gently for about 1 h 30, until the smoked pork and the sauerkraut are tender.
5. Add 300 g sliced smoked sausage for the last 20 minutes. Lift out the pork, cut it into bite-size pieces and return it to the pot.
6. Whisk 200 ml sour cream with a ladle of hot soup, stir it into the pot and bring it just back to a simmer.
7. Leave it to rest overnight: kapustnica is better reheated the next day. Serve it on Christmas Eve with bread.

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