Sunday Soup #72: Kapuśniak (Polish Sauerkraut Soup)

Marching Band Season, baby! Whew... Having teenaged kids is a full time job. :-) But, while Soup Sundays are a little more sporadic during this time of year, Fall and Winter soups are among my favorite, as the cooler weather practically begs me to cook! Last week, my wife made a simple, delicious family favorite: ham hock and pinto bean recipe (which is very soup-like; let me know if you want the recipe). And then, the week before, I made a repeat soup that we love. So we have been cooking, but it is always nice to get back onto something new.

I have an affinity for Eastern European soups, and I am always on the lookout for new possibilities... This week, a Polish sauerkraut soup caught my eye, so I decided to whip it up and share it with you, lucky Reader! Let's check it out!!

This recipe came from: http://cookingtheglobe.com/polish-sauerkraut-soup-with-sausage-kapusniak/

*Pic 1 - http://cookingtheglobe.com/polish-sauerkraut-soup-with-sausage-kapusniak/

Variations from Recipe as Written: I made 1.5x the recipe. I added 15% more sausage and 25% more bacon than called for (because we like our soups meaty!). That's it!!

General Thoughts: This one was a medium prep soup. If you wanted to buy pre-diced onion and carrots, it would save you some time, but not a ton. In addition, chopping and slicing the bacon, sausage, and potatoes can be a little time consuming, but with a glass of wine and some music, it passes quickly. :-) One thing to note, the recipe does a poor job of making it clear up front that the sausage, bacon, tomato paste, caraway, and sauerkraut all start out being cooked separately from the onion, carrots, potatoes, and broth, and are added to the soup pot only after the potatoes are mostly done.

*Pics 2 & 3 - Pictures from when my sister and I made it

Almost immediately, the soup started smelling great... I had high hopes that it would taste just as yummy, and it definitely delivered. Every bite was pure heaven: meaty and savory, tangy and well-spiced, hearty and warming! Of particular note was the perfect ratio of the caraway and thyme... Both of those flavors can be overwhelming, if you overdo it, but this recipe totally nailed the right balance.

Particularly because my wife was going to be eating this soup, I was a bit worried about how strong of a sauerkraut flavor it would retain... She is not a sauerkraut fan, so if that taste pushed its way to the forefront, she would probably be turned off by it. However, when you cook sauerkraut low-and-slow, or at a simmer for a while (like in this recipe), it mellows out a lot. In this case, the soup retained the perfect amount of "sauer" and tang without being overpowering, and each bite was better than the last.

Potential Improvements? I wouldn't do anything different with this recipe at all, except make sure to include the little bit of extra meat (as I did this time).

Polling the Fam: I loved this one, and it is one of my new faves! Becky said it was good and liked it, making specific mention of the yummy potatoes. Hunter echoed Becky's thoughts almost exactly and said he really enjoyed it. Fox, our Picky Pete, also said it was good and that he liked it, but did not provide any additional commentary.

Verdict: Loved it! (5 stars)