Best North Croatian Beans Soup Recipes

CROATIAN BEAN SOUP (GRAH I VARIVAH)

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Drain the soaked beans, rinse them, and drain again.
• Place in a large pot and add 12 cups fresh cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and skim off any foam that rises to the surface.
• Add garlic, onion, smoked sausage of choice, smoked ribs or meaty smoked ham hocks, bay leaf, salt, pepper and Vegeta seasoning powder to taste.
• Return to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, for 2 to 3 hours or until beans and meat are tender. Add water as needed, while cooking, stirring occasionally.
• Remove bay leaf and discard. Remove bones from rib meat or hocks and return meat to the pot. If soup isn't thick enough, continue to simmer until desired consistency is achieved.

NORTH CROATIAN CREAMY VEGETABLE SOUP

Steps:

• Finely mince onion and sauté it on butter until translucent.
• In the meantime, cut and mince all vegetables into small pieces and put into sautéed onion.
• Add all beef stock, season with salt and pepper and cook 40 minutes or until vegetables are soft.
• Blend all vegetables with blender or stick blender into creamy liquid. Add thyme and nutmeg and cook 10-15 minutes.
• Add sour cream before serving. Serve hot with croutons.

NORTH CROATIAN FRENCH BEANS STEW ("CUSPAJZ OD MAHUNA")

Steps:

• Clean the French beans and cut into 5 cm long pieces.
• Boil the water and put French beans into boiling water and cook not more than 10 minutes. Drain the beans and put aside.
• During this melt lard and saute finely minced onion, than add flour and fry flour (not too much) with finely minced garlic. Add cold water and stir until you get creamy mixture, add paprika, salt pepper and vinegar. Add some more water, heat it and add French beans.
• Cover with water and cook until beans are soft or 30 minutes. At the end add sour cream, stir and serve.

NORTH CROATIAN BEANS SOUP

Steps:

• After soaking beans overnight, cook beans until soft. Drain the beans and put aside two teaspoons of whole beans.
• Make puree out of all other beans using blender (or whatever you use). Finely mince onion, garlic and bacon.
• Melt lard in a cooking pot and sauté onion until translucent. Add garlic and bacon and sauté it not more than 2 minutes.
• Add flour and brown it but not too much. Add cold water and make creamy liquid.
• Add hot and sweet paprika and stir.
• Add beans puree and whole beans, stir. Add bay leaf and vinegar; season with salt and pepper. Add water and cook about 45 minutes.
• Before serving taste the soup, if it is not sour you may drop few drops of vinegar (if you do cook for more 5 minutes). Add sour cream and parsley leaves and serve.

GREAT NORTHERN BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a stockpot over medium heat. Cook and stir onion and garlic in hot oil until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes.
• Stir carrots and celery into the onion mixture. Pour vegetable broth into the stockpot; add potato, bay leaves, basil, sea salt, pepper, and thyme. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook at a simmer until the vegetables are beginning to soften, about 20 minutes.
• Stir beans into the soup; continue simmering until the beans are hot and tender, about 20 minutes more.

CROATIAN ARMY BEANS

Steps:

• Soak beans overnight in water. Wash the beans and put it in fresh cold water unit it boils. Cook it for 10 minutes, change the water, and cook for more 20-30 minutes. Remove beans and put it in cold water.
• Melt the lard in the pot and add the sliced onion. Sauté the onion until it is soft. Add minced pancetta and sauté it for 5 more minutes, than add garlic. Sauté it for 1-2 minutes and add flour. Sauté it until the flour is slightly brown and than add paprika and chilli.
• Add water gently and make a cream of all ingredients. Than add beans and bay leaf and water to cover the beans. Cook for 1 hour on very gently fire. (in Croatia we have special sausages "cesnjovke" which we put in this beans and cook all together, but you can put any kind of smoked, dried meat - pork or beef).
• Very important to know is that you do not add chilli or any kind of hot paprika afterwards. Hot paprika must be cooked from the very beginning or you will suffer from very bad digestive process. We in Croatia always drink alcohol if we eat something hot, otherwise, you'll also have very bad digestive process. This meal is very good during cold winter, it renews your strength.

GREAT NORTHERN BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• Rinse and drain beans.
• Heat water, beans, bay leaves, onion, bacon and potatoes to boiling in 8-qt. stock pot; boil 2 minutes. Turn off heat, cover, and let stand 1 hour.
• Add tomato sauce, instant bouillon, salt, pepper, garlic and half of the carrots and celery to beans. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer until beans are tender, about 2 hours (do not boil or beans will burst).
• Stir remaining carrots and celery into soup. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 1 hour. Stir in additional 1 or 2 cups water for thinner consistency.
• Using a slotted spoon and a wooden spoon, scoop potatoes against inside of pot and smash them, letting smashed potatoes drop back into the soup.
• Stir in butter and milk and serve immediately.

NORTH CROATIAN GOULASH SOUP ("GULAS JUHA")

Steps:

• Melt lard and sauté finely minced onion until become soft and transparent. Cut kohlrabi and carrot into small cubes and saute until slightely softens.
• Slice beef into small (1 cm in diameter) pieces and add into the pot. Sauté beef in its own juices and after 5 to 10 minutes add red paprika (hot and sweet) salt and pepper. Stir well and add flour.
• Sauté everything until flour starts to brown and add water (it is on you to decide to use all water or not). Add thyme.
• Peel potato and cut into small pieces (1 cm in diameter) and add into the soup. Cook until potato and meat are soft or 90 minutes.