Creamy Hungarian Bean Soup

Buster's friend's Note:

Another one for my growing poverty foods cookbook - who says frugal can't taste fantastic? Thanks AJ from gourmet-recipes-from-around-the-world. Soak the beans overnight (longer but uses no energy) or do the rapid soak - cover with water& bring to a boil, simmer 20 minutes, turn off heat, cover & let sit for an hour.

• Total Time: 2 hrs
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 40 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 2 cups navy beans
• 2 small onions , chopped
• 1 leek , rinsed and chopped
• 3 medium carrots , diced
• 6 large garlic cloves , minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika
• 6 tablespoons flour
• 6 tablespoons butter
• ½ cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons cider vinegar

Directions:

1. Soak navy beans overnight.
2. Drain them and place in large soup pot with onions, leek, carrots, and garlic.
3. Add water to an inch above the level of the beans. Bring them to a boil and then simmer, covered, until tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
4. Make a light taupe-colored roux from the flour & butter in a small saucepan.
5. Mix in the salt, pepper, and paprika. Ladle out 2 cups of the hot bean water and slowly stir it into the flour until smooth. Add the flour mixture to the beans, stirring constantly. Remove the soup from the heat and whisk in the sour cream and then the vinegar.
6. Gently reheat the soup for about 10 minutes.

Reviews

[Miss Annie]

This is a wonderful soup. Definately a keeper! I have 4 different kinds of paprika that a friend brought me from Hungary, and I chose to use the smoked paprika. It added a deep, rich flavor and went well with all of the ingredients. I will experiment with some hot paprika next time. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe!!

[TreeSquirrel]

I just made this soup and love it!! I strayed from the recipe a bit and added extra water and extra sour cream. This made the soup less thick and I love "soupy" beans!! Also, I forgot to add the vinegar, but I love the dish without the addition!! I served with a basic cornbread recipe and my boyfriend just asked me to make this bean soup again!!

[Queen Roachie]

Loved this! I did make some changes based on what was in the house... the essence of poverty cooking... ;-) One large vidalia instead of two small onions, no leek, and half butter, half bacon grease for the roux. I also had two cans of chicken broth in the cabinet and used that in place of some water. This was really thick, more like a stew than a soup, but the bacon grease gave a smoky flavor. Just a head's up that the roux is really dense, so don't feel like you've done something wrong. It will whisk in just fine.