Kohlrabi is a cultivar of cabbage, grown throughout the whole year. It can be eaten raw as well as cooked. It contains vitamin C, vitamin B1, B2 and B6, calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, lime and phosphorus. It’s unsuitable for canning and for pickling.
The most cultivars of kohlrabi tend to be woody, except for the so called Gigante that can achieve great size while remaining of good eating quality. Its taste is similar to broccoli and cabbage, but milder and sweeter.
To make this soup, you can use water instead of chiken or pork stock as this kohlrabi soup can be delicious on its own. But if you prefer stock, it must be homemade. Commercial stocks are out of the question.
What makes this soup special is the butter dumplings. Their soft taste stresses the soups’s delicate, characteristic flavour. As you can see in the list of ingredients, I can’t give you the exact quantity of flour because it depends on the flour’s quality and the egg’s size.
photo: zserbo.com
Ingredients:
- 1 big kohlrabi (500-600 g ~1 lb)
- 2 parsley roots
- 1 carrot
- 1 tbsp. oil
- 1,5 l (~6 cups) water
- 2 level tsp. salt or 3 level tsp. homemade vegetable seasoning
- pinch of lovage
- small bunch of parsley
- 50 g (~1/4 cup) soft butter
- 1 egg
- 80-100 g (~3/4 cup) flour
Peel and cube the kohlrabi, carrot and parsley roots.
Slowly heat the oil in a medium sized pot.
Add the kohlrabi, carrot and parsley root cubes.
Sprinkle with salt or seasoning.
Add a couple of tablespoons of water to sauté the vegetables. Keep an eye on the heat to make sure the vegetables don’t get brown. Add more liquid if the water boils away. Stir often.
When the vegetables are tender, add water and lovage.
Bring the soup to a slow simmer.
Meanwhile prepare the batter of the dumplings.
Combine the egg, soft butter and flour.
Beat to form a smooth and pliable batter.
Push the batter through a dumpling maker into the soup. Or you can simply use a spoon to make small dumplings and drop them into the soup.
Cook for 2-3 minutes.
Turn off the heat, add the chopped parsley to the soup and it’s ready to serve.
