Pickle Soup (Ogórkowa Zupa)

• servings: 8 servings
• total time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

6 to 8 cups vegetable or chicken stock

3 large carrots, peeled and coarsely grated

3 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 small celery root, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 medium parsnip, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

7 sour dill pickles (8 to 9 ounces) with 1 1/2 cups brine from the jar (see Tip)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 dried bay leaves

Salt and black pepper

1/4 cup sour cream, for serving (optional)

Chopped fresh dill, for serving (optional)

Directions

In a large pot, combine 6 cups stock with the carrots, potatoes, celery root and parsnip. The vegetables should be covered with stock, so add more as needed. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and reduce the heat to medium-low. Rapidly simmer until all of the vegetables are fork tender, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low.

While the vegetables are cooking, coarsely grate the pickles. You should have about 1 cup densely packed grated pickles. Melt the butter in a small frying pan over medium heat until it starts to brown. Stir in the garlic and bay leaves, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the grated pickles and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and cook, stirring once, until the pickles become softer, 8 to 12 minutes.

Add the pickle mixture to the pot with the vegetables, along with 1 cup pickle brine. Taste, then season with salt and pepper. The soup should already be salty from the broth, pickles and their brine, so add salt carefully. Add up to 1/2 cup more brine if you want a more sour taste. Remove and discard the bay leaves.

If using sour cream, temper the cream so it doesn’t curdle: In a cup, mix the sour cream with 1 to 2 tablespoons of cold water, stirring well after each addition, then repeat with 1 to 2 tablespoons of the soup. Add the tempered cream to the pot. Bring to a simmer and heat through, about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings.

To serve, ladle the soup into bowls. Top with chopped dill and black pepper.

Nutrition

• Calories: 277
• Total Fat: 9 g
• Saturated Fat: 4 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 4 g
• Trans Fat: 0 g
• Sodium: 1052 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 42 g
• Dietary Fiber: 4 g
• Total Sugars: 7 g
• Protein: 10 g