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Benvenuti al Tutti!

Welcome to Luigi's Tastes of Italy

This blog is my small dedication to Italian cooking, and is abolutely 100% free of pretentiousness, complicated ingredients, or any effort to present Italian cuisine as anything other than it really is, very simple.

Hope you enjoy reading my posts and maybe trying out some of the recipes.

Monday 25 April 2011

Russian Solyanka soup


It has been quite a while since my last blog, I keep meaning to blog, but keeping getting distracted by our dear son Sergio (15 months old). If he isn't teething, he has a cold, and when he has neither of those.
He is due a shot that makes him cranky until one of the aformetioned happens again. Seems to happen that way anyway.

I expect this will continue until he is at least 10!  In the meantime here are some catchup shots: Yep eating, and now walking/standing staring at tv (too often) and wearing a bizarre "ladies man" bib.



As mentioned a while ago, one of my favorite places to dine in southern Russia is a 24hr cafe pretty close to the main airport we fly into,  the main reason this is my favourite is the delicious solyanka soup that is served throughout the day.

Throughout every culture the peasants eat well, and Russia is no different to anywhere else. This warming, filling soup is something we eat quite often, when taking a break from pasta.

Essentially this is a chefs or home-makers dream, it is basically a "left overs" soup, but as well as being a blessing to a professional kitchen its a useful trick for the home too, especially in harsh economic times (everyday in our house).

A few storecupboard basics, and a few scraps presto you have a delicious soup.


INGREDIENTS:


250g leftovers of beef, chicken, duck, or fish (in below recipe duck was used)
5 cups of vegetable stock
100g smoked bacon, or sausage diced
150g diced gherkin
1 Onion, diced
2 tablespoons of tomato paste/concentrate
1 cup of black olives
3 bay leaves

Garnish slices of lemon, sprig of dill and parsley.

METHOD:

-Fry the diced onion in a little oil, then add the remainder of the ingredients and simmer gently for approximately 45 minutes.

- Serve and garnish with slices of lemon, and some fresh dill, and/or parsley, a dollop of soured cream is optional, but almost obligatory in Russia. I however, just eat it with crusty bread.


Enjoy!!

12 comments:

Joanne said...

Luigi, he is adorable! Seriously the cutest thing ever! I can see why he's stolen your attention!

And this soup sounds delicious. Definitely super comfort food.

Mari said...

OMG he is so adorable! Is it bad that I want to bite his cheeks? such a cutie....

Angie's Recipes said...

How cute is he! The soup looks delicious!

natalia said...

Ciao Luigi ! Sergio è bellissimo e i primi tempi sono così sembra incredibile ma poi passa ! un bacio

Kim said...

Sergio is very cute! No doubt he keeps both you and your wife busy. I've never heard of Russian Solyanka soup until now but it does sound delicious. I like the touch of the gherkin and the dill. Take care and enjoy!

Luigi said...

As always thanks for the very kind comments. :)

Mari nothing wrong with wanting to bite his cheeks. Kissing them might be considered more normal though. :)

Anonymous said...

sergio is big inought for a isster!!!

Aleksandra Rybinska said...

Great you are back :)! You baby is cutie! Very very handsome :). Soup is interesting :)

Sweet Lily said...

Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!
Thanks for sharing, you're wonderful too! :)

Caroline Taylor said...

How sweet! The soup looks lovely, my kind of dish.

Karolina said...

My partner's favourite soup, some people make it in Poland too. No olives though. Never tried it, but if I have the opportunity I will go for it - I love salty, sour soups.

1 said...

so nice blog! i greet you and invite to my polish culinary blog;)

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