Grandma's Soljanka: East German Sausage and Pickle Soup

Method

You'll needlarge pot (about 4 l), cutting board, sharp knife, wooden spoon

1. Prepare

   Peel the onion and cut it into cubes of about 1 cm. Cut the sausage and roast trimmings, salami and ham into strips about 1 cm wide. Cut the pickles into thin strips. Have the stock ready.

2. Render the bacon

   Put the bacon in the large pot without any extra fat. Render it over medium heat for 3–4 min, until the fat runs and the cubes are lightly browned.

3. Brown the meat

   Turn up the heat. Add the sausage, roast and ham strips and brown them well for 3–4 min, stirring now and then. Then add the salami and onions and fry for another 3 min until the onions are translucent.

4. Toast the tomato paste

   Stir in the tomato paste and toast it for 1–2 min until the sausage and onion mixture turns a deep red. Don't toast it too long, or it turns bitter.

5. Deglaze and simmer

   Deglaze with the stock and scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pot with the wooden spoon. Add the Letscho, pickle strips and bay leaves, stir in pickle brine to taste (3–4 tbsp to start) and season with pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for about 20 min.

6. Serve

   The Soljanka is done when the pickles are soft and the soup looks slightly thickened. Remove the bay leaves and taste. Only now add salt, carefully, because the sausage and pickle brine already bring plenty of salt. Ladle into soup bowls and serve each with 1–2 small lemon slices, 1 tbsp sour cream and capers if you like.