Hofbräuhaus Sauerkraut Soup

This is the third addition to the #SouperBowl lineup. We were challenged to make a German soup with the ingredients of beer, cheese, and bread. This was significantly less of a stretch than Moroccan for me. I took a family recipe and tweaked it a bit and this is what I came up with. The rules we are running under were originally posted at Nickel Moon. If you have been following along you know that there is a nationality picked and three ingredients that must be used, everything else is fair game.

This soup turned out great. My wife who does not like beer or sauerkraut  enjoyed it as well and made her coworkers jealous when reheating the leftovers the next day in the office microwave. I only simmered it for 45 minutes, but I think that a longer simmering time really would have brought the cheese flavor out more. Next time I make this I plan on making it in a crock pot, simmering throughout the day with better beer than I happened to have on hand. This received a partial seal of approval from the little guy. He enjoyed the broth but wasn’t as much into the rest of it.

Hofbräuhaus Sauerkraut Soup

Ingredients

• 2 strips of bacon diced
• 4 knockwurst sliced into thin rounds
• 1 diced onion
• 1 cored, peeled, grated apple
• 2 beers (preferably a dark German beer but I used an American lager and it was good)
• 1 can pureed tomato
• 1 quart beef stock
• 1 tsp caraway seeds
• 2-3 cheese ends * (Parmesan if you have it)
• 1 lb sauerkraut drained
• 1 Russet potato grated
• Salt to taste
• Bread cut into rounds toasted
• 5 TBS or more grated Swiss cheese

Instructions

1. In a dutch oven or pot with cover, saute bacon until crispy and set aside.
2. In the bacon grease sauté the knockwurst until just browned and set aside as well.
3. Sauté onion until it start to get soft; add the grated potatoes and apple and saute for an additional 5 minutes then add the sauerkraut and toss together.
4. Add the cheese ends, caraway seeds (in a tea ball or wrapped in cheese cloth), tomato puree, beer and beef stock and bring to a boil.
5. Cover then set to a simmer for 45 minutes to 8 hours. Remove the cheese ends and spice packet.
6. Add the bacon and knockwurst to a pot and continue to simmer for at least another 5 minutes or unto ready to serve.
7. Serve out the soup into your bowls, top with the toasted crouton and cover each with a bit of grated cheese and melt under it a broiler..

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 00:10

Cook time: 01:00

* Save your cheese ends in a bag in a freezer whenever you finish a hard cheese. Cut off any of the wax or other inedible coating and use it to deeper the flavor of soups. It’s free flavor, do it.