Zupa Kapusta, Polish Cabbage Soup

   Meet my best girl Maria Lisieski, who stopped by the Airstream Argosy set to share her family's special winter cabbage and pork soup.

    This soup is hearty like a stew and is full of comforting and nourishing flavors. It's something you'll want to have on hand to get through those bone chilling, breath sucking, dark winter nights. It's easy to whip up and the servings are generous so there will be plenty to share with your other small footprint neighbors for a lovely communal dinner. 

    

Still can't believe we both showed up sporting the colors of Poland!  

Polish Cabbage Soup (Zupa Kapusta) 

Serves 4 to 6

Prep time: 15  to 20 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

From stove top to table in 1 1/2 hours

Kitchen Equipment:

• large soup pot
• medium saucepan
• colander
• cutting board
• kitchen knife
• vegetable peeler
• ladle
• soup bowls and spoons

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb. pork stew meat,  (pork shoulder cut into bite size pieces)

1 small head cabbage, chopped

1 pint (16oz) sauerkraut, lightly rinsed under cold water and chopped, sauerkraut juice reserved  

1 onion, chopped

1 apple, peeled and chopped fine

1 to 2 carrots, peeled and chopped fine

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon whole allspice

1/2 teaspoon whole white peppercorns

1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For Serving

8 to 12 fingerling potatoes or other small waxy potato such as Yellow Fin or Red Bliss, boiled with skins on and set aside

fresh dill, chopped fine

sauerkraut juice or apple cider vinegar

Dark Rye Bread with butter

Cooking Instructions:

Put all ingredients in a large soup pot.

Cover ingredients with water.

Cover soup pot with lid and bring to a quick boil over high heat.

Reduce to a simmer, uncover, and let cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While soup is simmering, prepare potatoes for serving by boiling them with skin on in a medium saucepan.

Drain in the colander when done, return to the saucepan and cover to keep warm until soup is done.

Taste soup and adjust seasonings to your liking. Add more sauerkraut juice, salt, and fresh ground black pepper accordingly.

To serve, place warm potatoes in soup bowls, then ladle soup over potatoes.

Sprinkle fresh dill on top.

Accompany soup with thick slices of dark rye bread and generous slatherings of butter.

Cook's Note:

I feel comforted and fortified every time I dig into a bowl of this sweet, tart, salty, and peppery soup my mom cooked for me and her mom before that. It is my "go to" meal for fall and winter and very economical too. I've taken to some variations using what I have on hand in my kitchen. I often skip the potatoes all together and add a large peeled, chopped turnip to the soup pot instead. Sometimes I add 4 to 6 leaves of chopped Swiss chard, stems included, to enrich the broth and delight in the visual punctuation of the darker greens. No sauerkraut on hand ? No problem. Just balance the sweet notes of the soup using apple cider vinegar after it is done cooking.  Want to adapt it to a Vegan and Vegetarian diets? Skip the pork and substitute 1oz. chopped dried Shiitake mushrooms  and 8oz. chopped fresh Crimini or 2 giant Portabello mushroom caps. Britta and I discovered that a Barbera d'Alba wine from Italy complements this meal quite nicely.

This soup can be stored in the refrigerator covered up to 5 days, or frozen in plastic containers (without potatoes) up to 2 months. If freezing, remember to leave 1/2 inch space at the top of the container for the expansion of the liquid.