BEAN SOUP

Bean soup is a favorite local dish, rich in flavor and ideal for family meals. It combines the tenderness of beans with the aroma of smoked bacon, sausage and carefully seasoned sauce, creating a hearty and filling lunch. This is a recipe that brings us back to childhood and warms our soul.

Ingredients

• beans
• dry ribs (pork, beef…)
• cured bacon, smoked
• sausage (from Carniola, Srem…)
• 2 onions
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 carrot
• 1 parnsnip and 1 celery (stem)
• ½ of pepper
• dry spices, salt, pepper, bay leaves, parsley, nutmeg
• flour, oil and ground red pepper

Preparation

1. Preparation of beans:
   Soak the beans in water for a couple of hours to swell. Strain it and pour water over it, then put it to boil. When it is half cooked, drain it again and put it aside.

2. Preparation of meat:
   Wash the dry ribs and boil them (if they are heavily smoked – boil twice and each time throw away the water they were boiled in). Towards the end of cooking, add bacon and sausage to release excess fat.

3. Stewing vegetables:
   Pour a little oil into the cooking pot and cook the chopped onion and garlic until they become tender. Add celery, carrot and pepper and continue stewing until the vegetables soften. Season with dry spices, salt, pepper and bay leaves.

4. Combining ingredients:
   Add bacon, ribs and sausage. Then pour hot water to soak everything, cover and let it cook slowly for 40 minutes.

5. Adding beans:
   After 40 minutes, add the prepared beans to cook together with the other ingredients. If necessary, adjust the taste with spices and fresh parsley.

6. Preparation of the brown flour gravy:
   Put a little oil in the pan and add flour – amount as needed, because it determines the thickness of the soup. When the flour is golden brown, add ground red pepper and pour this mixture into the pot. Let it simmer a little longer, then turn off the stove. Note: Finely chopped garlic can be added to the gravy when frying the flour – it will give the dish an even better aroma. You just have to be careful not to over-fry it so it doesn’t become bitter.