Zupa ogorkowa is a Polish pickle or sour cucumber soup, it is easy to make and it rocks celeriac, potato, parsley root, carrot, bacon & dill.
This dish will go from your store cupboard to your table in around 45 minutes, it tastes fantastic, and it's very easy to cook.
Polish Pickled Sour Cucumber Soup
My time living in Central Europe gave me a deep love of pickled foods.
They appear here all the time in dishes like Polish lazanki, my Hungarian rakott kaposzta recipe or even in a very British sandwich like my ploughman's sandwich.
My latest foray into cooking with pickles is a glorious Polish pickle (sour cucumber) soup called zupa ogorkowa.
It's loaded with root vegetables like carrots, potatoes, celeriac, onions and parsley root, and it's finished with cream and sour and salty pickled cucumbers.
This soup is traditionally made by boiling something like a chicken carcass or pork ribs to make a stock, then the meat is added back into the soup with all of the ingredients that I use.
I prefer to use bacon in this soup, it both speeds up the process and it adds perfectly complementary flavours to the sour pickles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use gherkins or regular pickled cucumbers?
You can, however, Polish sour cucumbers tend to be much more sour and really quite salty.
They are commonly available in British supermarkets, but if you do switch to other types of pickled cucumber, your soup will be sweeter and you will likely need to add more salt.
What is parsley root?
As the name suggests, Parsley root is the root of an established parsley plant. It looks a lot like parsnip, but it is not as sweet and, unsurprisingly, it has a subtle flavour of parsley.
It is almost never available in supermarkets, but it is often to be found in Central European grocers.
You can use parsnip as a substitute, but the flavour will be very different and the soup will be a little sweeter.
Can I make this in advance?
Yes, this dish can be made in advance. But I would not add the cream until I am ready to serve.
This will extend the storage life of the soup in the fridge to 4-5 days. If you add the cream before storing, it will be closer to 2-3 days.
Can I make this vegetarian?
Yes, this is remarkably good with the bacon omitted.
The sour cucumber flavour screams through a little more when the bacon is omitted; as a result, you may wish to scale them back a little. You will also need a little more salt.
Serving Suggestions
Zupa ogorkowa is a gloriously simple bowl of soup, and all it needs is some nice bread.
I'm particularly fond of serving this with some crusty white bread rolls. Although I usually pick up anything I fancy from the supermarket, I am not really a baker!
If I were to bake bread, it would probably be a soda bread because it is really easy and delicious.
Arguably, the best flavour match for this Polish pickle soup would be a dark and rich rye bread.
Equipment Used
I only name-check specific brands of equipment if I think that they make a material difference to a recipe. But if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.
- Hob/Stovetop.
- 20cm or 8" saucepan.
- Chopping board.
- Kitchen knife.
- Grater.
- A combination of weighing scales, measuring jug, cups and spoons.
- Stirring and serving spoons.
Zupa Ogorkowa Recipe A Polish Pickle Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Small Onion 100-125g
- 1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
- 75 g Bacon Lardons ⅓ Cup
- 1 Small Parsley Root 100g
- 1 Small Potato 100g
- 100 g Celeriac Around ¾ cup diced weight
- 1 Small Carrot 50g
- 100 g Polish Sour Cucumbers 2x10cm or 4"
- 625 ml Vegetable Stock 2½ Cups
- 1 Bay Leaf
- Pinch Ground Allspice
- ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
- Salt As Required
- 15 g Fresh Dill ⅓ Packed Cup
- 125 ml Double Cream ½ Cup
Instructions
- Cut the onion in half, peel it and then cut it into a 3-5mm (¼-⅛") dice.
- Heat a 20cm or 8" saucepan over a medium heat, add the oil, bacon lardons, and the onions, then sweat them down gently over a low heat for 12-15 minutes while preparing the remaining ingredients. Stir the onions occasionally and make sure they are not getting any colour.
- Peel the parsley root and cut it into a 1cm (½") dice.
- Peel the potato, cut it into a 1cm (½") dice and then rinse it under cold water to get rid of some of the starch.
- Remove the knobbly outer skin from the celeriac, then cut it into a 1cm (½") dice.
- Add the parsley root, potato and celeriac to the pot, then pour over the vegetable stock, add the bay leaf and sprinkle in the allspice and black pepper.
- Have a taste of the stock, add salt to taste, and remember that the pickles will add quite a lot of saltiness. Turn up the heat to medium-high, bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes or until the root vegetables are almost cooked.
- Grate the Polish cucumbers and the carrot.
- When the root vegetables are very nearly cooked, add the grated carrot and sour cucumbers, taste and once again, add salt if required, then cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Finely chop the dill.
- Pour in the cream and add most of the dill (keeping a little back for garnish), then bring the soup back to serving temperature and dish up.
