Hungarian Pacal Soup / Pacal Leves

Directions

1. Chop onions and garlic.

2. In a large soup pot, brown the slănină/szalonna – if using. If not, heat a bit of oil.

3. Sauté onions and garlic in the fat/oil until soft.

4. Add water and heat over a high flame until boiling.

5. While water boils, wash and cube potatoes.

6. When water is boiling, add pork bone. Cook on a low boil for 20 min.

7. After 20 min, add potatoes to the boiling water. When the soup returns to a boil, reduce heat and simmer.

7. Add seasonings, cover and simmer until potatoes start to soften (about 20 min).

8. Check pork bone to be sure meat is done to the center (if you’d like, you can pull the bone out, strip of the bits you want to eat and add return them to the soup – discarding the rest).

9. Slice cremwurst (if using), and clean and chop beans.

10. Add beans and cremwurst (if using). Simmer soup until beans are done. Taste, and adjust seasonings if necessary.

10. Remove soup from the heat and add a few Tbs of sour cream – stir well to blend. Serve hot, with more sour cream on the side.

                                                                             

Notes: This is a very simple Hungarian soup, which even young people know how to make. It can be made with fresh beans in the summer, or frozen beans in the winter. The English name for these beans may be “French beans”.