Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Goulash Soup

I have made this soup only a couple of times in the last few years.  I first tasted it in Melbourne while I was living with my Aunt Desley. She made it, and it has stuck in my mind ever since as one of the most delicious soups I've tried.  It’s the perfect winter warmer, rich and flavoursome and goes well with a crusty white ploughmans loaf. So first things first, put your crusty white loaf on in your bread maker or start mixing it up yourself so that it is ready for when you start eating your soup. Now this recipe can be a little fiddly so give yourself plenty of time. I’ve tried to simplify the method a little, but it is so worth it in the end.



Goulash Soup

30g butter
2 large onions finely chopped
2 large carrots chopped
3 sticks celery finely chopped
500g pork steak or stirfry strips
125g or 5 bacon strips (I used rindless short cut bacon)
3 teaspoons paprika
60g butter extra
extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup flour
2 litres of water
2 tspn beef stock
2 tspn chicken stock
1/4 tspn caraway seeds (optional)
1/3 cup tomato paste
salt, pepper
3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley (optional)
cream (optional)

You will need two large pans, one for the soup mix and one for cooking up the ingredients. I used my deep pan on the stove top to cook up the vegies and meat and then transferred the mix into the large soup pot. You will notice the ingredients above with (optional) are the ones I didn’t have and the soup was still magnificent without them.

Heat butter and a little oil in large pan, add peeled and chopped onions, carrot and celery.  Saute gently until golden brown, remove from pan. 


Add extra butter and oil to pan, add pork and bacon pieces. Cook gently until meat is golden brown, remove from pan.
 

Add flour to pan, stir until dark golden brown.  Add paprika, stir 1 minute more.  The recipe actually called for 2 tablespoons of paprika but I felt it was too much so I used 3 teaspoons, you can add which ever your tastebuds desire.  Remove pan from heat, add water, stir until soup comes to boil. Mix well so you don’t get any lumpy bits and reduce the heat. Pour soup mix into large soup pot add pork, bacon and vegetables, stir until combined. Add caraway seeds, beef and chicken stock and tomato paste. Stir until combined, season with salt and pepper.  Cover, simmer gently 1 1/2 hours. Remove meat from soup with a slotted spoon and most of the carrot pieces. 


Cut up meat pieces finely. Before adding the meat back to the pot, I blend up the soup mix with a hand blender, just to disguise some of the celery and onion bits from my kids. Then add the meat and carrots back to the soup. Add chopped parsley (I didn’t have any so I didn’t use it). Spoon into serving bowls and swirl a little cream on top of each (again I didn’t have any cream but the soup itself is wonderful without it). Serve with your lovely fresh baked bread.



Recipe from Best Ever Recipes of the Australian Women's Weekly cookbook.

2 comments:

Donald said...

That was really yummy mummy!

Cathy said...

One of my ABSOLUTE favourites - been making it for years and I always trot it out when I need a reliable recipe for a special occasion.