Rassolnik – Russian Soup With Pickles and Barley – Суп “Рассольник”

A pickle soup?! Yep. This recipe is for Slavic folks or pregnant ladies:) However, if you’ve never heard of such a bizarre concept as a pickle soup, I would encourage you to give this a try. If you’re Russian, you probably grew up eating this soup, and don’t see anything unusual about it. Rassolnik brings back warm, nostalgic memories for me, and since I like my pickles, it’s one of my favorites.

Rassolnik is very comforting, since it has potatoes and creamy barley in it, but it also doesn’t taste heavy at all. I feel light and happy after I eat a bowl (or two), which is awesome.

When we still lived in Belarus, my Mom was pregnant and had an extreme craving for Rassolnik. There was one problem though. Cooking and all the different smells in the kitchen made her really nauseous. My Dad doesn’t know anything about cooking. He grew up with his Mom bringing the food to the table and then got married and had my Mom waiting on him hand and foot. Even though he had no idea what he was doing, my Dad decided to make the soup for Mom –  he’s such a sweet guy!

He had to go into her room for every. single. step. And half step of the process. Mom thought it was really funny, because he really had no clue what he was doing. However, he had plenty of determination and lots of love in him. He finished the soup, served it to my Mom and she absolutely loved it. I’m sure part of it was due to the fact of how touched she was by his hard work but it tasted great too.

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 8-10 cups chicken broth (you can also use beef, pork or vegetable broth)
• ½ cup cooked meat, chicken, beef, pork (optional, save from making broth or cook in the broth)
• 2-3 potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces
• ¼ cup pearled barley
• ½ Tablespoon butter
• 1 onion, minced
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 1 cup shredded pickles,
• salt, pepper
• serves 6-8

Instructions

Bring the chicken broth to a boil.
Add the potatoes and barley to the soup. Reduce the heat to a simmer and keep the soup covered as it cooks.
Meanwhile, heat ½ Tablespoon of butter in a skillet. Add the onion and carrot. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, until they are softened. Add to the soup.
Shred the pickles on a box grater and add to the soup. You can also add a bit of the pickling brine to the soup. It gives the soup a nice zip.
Cook for 30-40 minutes, until the potatoes and barley are cooked through. Season with salt and pepper, if needed.
Garnish the soup with some finely minced herbs, parsley, dill, scallions, etc. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

Source:

http://www.olgasflavorfactory.com/soups/rassolnik/