Hungarian Goulash Soup

Submitted by Bobbie S.

"This soup might take a tad longer to make than some other soups -- but the time is definitely worth it. I got this recipe from Bon Appetit Magazine. I took one look at the picture and knew I had to try it -- and boy, am I glad I did. The flavors are wonderful. I know it sounds like a lot of paprika -- but it's in no way overpowering. And DON'T skip the dollop of sour cream!"

 

• Ready In: 2hrs 40mins
• Ingredients: 15
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons caraway seeds
• 1 lb beef shoulder, fat trimmed & cut into 1 1/2 pieces (I use round steak)
• 3 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika
• 10 cups beef broth
• 1 russet potato, peeled & cut into 1 inch pieces (12 oz.)
• 1 parsnip, peeled & chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled & chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, cut into thin matchstick-size strips
• 1⁄2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 6 tablespoons sour cream (I always use more)

directions

1. Heat oil in heavy large hot pot over med. heat. Add onion and caraway seeds and sauté until onion begins to soften, about 8 minutes. Add beef and paprika, sauté until meat is brown on all sides, about 15 minutes. Add broth. Bring to a boil, scrapping up browned bits at bottom pot. Reduce heat to low, simmer until meat is just tender, about 40 minutes (I find this sometimes takes about 30 minutes longer).
2. Stir potato, parsnip, carrot, celery, bell pepper and garlic into soup. Simmer until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in tomatoes. Simmer until vegetables and meat are very tender, about 20 minutes longer. Cool slightly.
3. Transfer 3 ½ cups of soup to blender or food processor. Blend/process until smooth. Add back to soup in pot. Stir in parsley. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made up to 2 days ahead. Cool slightly, chill uncovered until cold, then cover and refrigerate. Bring to a simmer before serving). Six servings.
4. To serve: Ladle soup into bowls. Top each with a generous tablespoon of sour cream.

Reviews

[AB_Fan]

This soup is absolutely wonderful, very close in flavor to what I recently tasted in Germany. I modified the recipe as follows: * 2 med onions, chopped * 2 lb beef round steak, cut in 1/4 inch squares * 2 russet potatoes, peeled & diced fine * 2 parsnips, peeled and diced fine * 2 carrots, peeled and diced fine * 1 can diced tomato (14 oz) plus 3 Tbsp tomato paste (instead of 1 diced tomato) * 2 stalks celery, diced fine * 1 green and 1 red bell pepper, cut into matchstick size strips * I also added 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper Adding all these extra veggies with no increase in the amount of broth gives this soup a chowder-like consistency, and increases the number of servings to 8 large or 10-12 smaller servings. Definitely time consuming, but very worth it. The paprika and caraway seeds really stand out in this recipe, and the end result is nearly dead-on compared with the gulaschsuppe I had in Munich last month! Excellent, highly recommended.

 

[Charlotte J]

I really liked the combination of vegetables and the beef broth in this recipe! You still need the beef in this to give it flavor but I DO LOVE the veggies. This was very easy to make. I've never had parsnips before but will start finding why to use this vegetable. Thank you for posting. I made this for the Spring PAC 2007 game.