Solyanka with potatoes
12 servings
210 minutes
Solanka with potatoes is a bright and rich dish of Russian cuisine that embodies traditions and a variety of flavors. Its history goes back centuries when peasants and merchants created hearty soups from available ingredients. This solanka combines tender meat, aromatic sausage, pickles, and tomato paste to create a harmony of sour, salty, and spicy flavors. Potatoes make the dish more filling while olives add an exquisite touch. Solanka not only warms but is also perfect for family gatherings and celebrations. It should be served hot with herbs and sour cream to highlight its rich taste. After a short infusion, its aroma becomes even deeper, filling the home with coziness and warmth.
1
Prepare all the ingredients.
2
Place beef in a pot of water, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and skim off the foam.
- Bone-in beef: 500 g
- Water: 4 l
3
Add the halved onion and carrot, bay leaf, and allspice. Boil at a gentle simmer for 1.5–2 hours.
- Onion: 2 heads
- Carrot: 1 piece
- Bay leaf: 1 piece
- Allspice berries: 3 pieces
4
Dice the remaining onion and cucumber into small cubes.
- Onion: 2 heads
- Pickled cucumbers: 100 g
5
Heat vegetable oil in a pan and sauté the onion until translucent.
- Vegetable oil: 30 ml
6
Add cucumbers and tomato paste to the pan, fry while stirring for another 3 minutes.
- Pickled cucumbers: 100 g
- Tomato paste: 70 g
7
Peel the potatoes and cut them into thick sticks.
- Potato: 400 g
8
Strain the broth, return it to the heat, and add the potatoes. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Potato: 400 g
9
Finely chop the meat from the broth, cut the boiled sausage into strips, and slice the Krakow sausage into thin half-rings.
- Bone-in beef: 500 g
- Boiled sausage: 200 g
- Krakowska sausage: 200 g
10
Add all the chopped meat products, sauté, and brine to the broth. Cook for another 5 minutes or until the potatoes are done.
- Pickle brine: 50 ml
11
At the end, add olives, season with salt and pepper to taste, remove the soup from heat, and let it steep for 30 minutes.
- Green olives: 50 g
- Salt: to taste
- Ground black pepper: to taste
12
Serve the solyanka garnished with greens.
- Fresh herbs: to taste