A generous vegetable soup with sweet Hungarian paprika, caraway and peppers. It is inspired by Hungarian flavours, rather than presented as traditional gulyás: gulyás is a soup, while pörkölt is a different, reduced meat dish.
Serves 4 | Preparation: 20 minutes | Cooking: 40 minutes | Total: 60 minutes
Ingredients
25 ml sunflower oil
1 onion (180 g), finely chopped
2 carrots (250 g), diced
1 parsley root (100 g), peeled and diced, or parsnip
1 sweet pepper (150 g), deseeded and diced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika (about 5 g)
½ tsp caraway seeds, lightly crushed
2 tomatoes (250 g), chopped
350 g potatoes, peeled and diced
1.2 litres vegetable stock
100 g frozen peas
1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
Salt and black pepper
80 g tejföl or soured cream, optional
Method
Warm the oil in a large saucepan. Soften the onion for 8–10 minutes. Add carrot, parsley root and pepper; cook for 5 minutes, stirring.
Add garlic and caraway and stir for 30 seconds. Take the pan off the heat, stir in paprika, then immediately add tomatoes and a ladleful of stock. This prevents the paprika scorching and becoming bitter.
Return to the heat. Add potatoes and the remaining stock. Simmer gently for 20 minutes, until roots and potatoes are tender.
Add peas and simmer for 3–5 minutes until piping hot. Season and add parsley. Serve with a spoonful of tejföl if liked.
Variations and substitutions
Add a pinch of hot paprika if you enjoy heat; sweet paprika is the main flavour. Use 150 g sliced mushrooms in place of peas, adding them with the peppers. For a more filling bowl add a drained 400 g tin of white beans with the peas. Omit tejföl for a vegan version.
Homegrown and seasonal produce
Use homegrown peppers and tomatoes fresh in season or frozen for winter cooking. Parsley root is traditional in many Hungarian vegetable soups; parsnip gives a sweeter, practical alternative. Buy good sweet paprika and store it away from light and heat.
Storage and freezing
Cool quickly in shallow containers and refrigerate within 2 hours at 5°C or below. Eat within 48 hours. Freeze without the soured cream for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge, use within 24 hours and reheat once until piping hot throughout. Add tejföl only when serving.
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Stock photograph for serving inspiration.
Grow the ingredients
Carrots · Onions · Parsnips · Potatoes · Sweet peppers · Tomatoes
