Lentil soup with smoked meat and sour cream for Christmas Eve or New Year's lunch

Tip: tap a step to mark it as done.

1. Cook the smoked meat

   1 hr

   Place the smoked meat in a pot, pour in 2 l cold water, and add the bay leaves and allspice. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat for about an hour, until the meat is tender. Taste the broth; if it is too salty, replace some of it with water.

2. Cook the lentils and vegetables

   35 min

   Transfer the meat to a plate. Rinse the lentils in a strainer; brown lentils do not need soaking. Add them to the broth along with the carrots and parsley root cut into rounds. Cook for 30–35 minutes, until the lentils are tender.

3. Thicken with a roux

   10 min

   Cook the finely chopped onion in the lard for 5 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until light brown. Remove from the heat, stir in the paprika, add a ladleful of cold water, and whisk until smooth. Pour into the soup and simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Season with sour cream and vinegar

   10 min

   Stir a ladleful of hot soup into the sour cream, then pour the mixture into the pot. Add the vinegar, sugar, crushed garlic, and marjoram, and season with salt and pepper. Heat the soup gently just until warmed through to keep the sour cream from curdling.

5. Return the meat to the soup

   5 min

   Remove the bones and skin from the meat, cut it into cubes, and return it to the soup. Serve with fresh bread.

Tip: Add the vinegar only once the lentils are tender; they would stay firm in an acidic broth. The soup will thicken by the next day, so thin it with a little water when reheating. Read more: Lard in the kitchen: baking and frying

This recipe was translated from the Slovak original: Hustá šošovicová polievka s údeným mäsom a smotanou: na Štedrý večer aj novoročný obed