Hungarian Sausage Soup

This is a substantial main-meal soup, packed with chunky vegetables. As it slowly cooks, the potatoes soak up the flavour of the smoked sausage and paprika and thicken the soup, making the perfect welcome home on a cold day.

Serves 2

1 small onion, chopped, or 30 ml/2 tbsp frozen diced onion
250 ml/8 fl oz/1 cup very hot (not boiling) beef stock
1 small red or yellow (bell) pepper or 150 g/5 oz frozen mixed sliced peppers
175 g/6 oz potato, diced
5 ml/1 tsp ground paprika
1.5 ml/¼ tsp caraway seeds (optional)
½ x 225 g/8 oz packet of smoked pork sausage, sliced
200 g/7 oz/small can of chopped tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Put the onion in the ceramic cooking pot. Pour the stock over, cover with the lid and switch on the slow cooker to Low. Leave to warm for a few minutes while measuring and preparing the rest of the ingredients.
2. If using a fresh pepper, quarter it and remove the white core and seeds. Cut each quarter into thin slices. Add the pepper, potato, paprika, caraway seeds, if using, sausage slices and tomatoes to the cooking pot. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Re-cover with the lid and cook for 4-6 hours or until the peppers and potatoes are very tender. Taste and re-season, if necessary, then transfer half the soup to a bowl or freezer container and allow to cool.
4. Serve the remaining soup in a warm bowl accompanied by buttered slices of pumpkin seed or seeded bread.

Second serving
Either cover the cooled soup and chill in the fridge for the following day, or freeze for up to a month. If frozen, allow the soup to defrost in the fridge overnight. To serve, transfer to a saucepan and heat until piping hot.

Cook's tip
There are several types of smoked pork sausage available including garlic-flavoured and a reduced-fat version. All would be suitable for this recipe.

---