Reviving classics: Creative twists on broth

Many people still can't imagine preparing soups without it. The broth, however, usually becomes the base for tomato soup, pumpkin soup, or cheese soup. But from this delicious soup, you can create many more treats. Here are a few of them...

It is worth preparing the leftover broth from the previous meal.

Whisk two egg yolks in a bowl, then, while continuously stirring, gradually add freshly squeezed lemon juice. Beat until the ingredients are combined. Heat the broth (about 2 litres). Temper the egg yolk mixture by gradually adding a few tablespoons of hot broth. Reduce the heat under the pot and pour in the egg yolk mixture. Cook over low heat for about 5 minutes without boiling it. Season the soup with salt, pepper, and grated lemon zest if needed. If you want it to be smoother and more delicate, add 100 millilitres of 18% cream.

Serve the dish with rice, pearl barley, croutons, or in Greek style – with kritharaki pasta (shaped like rice grains). It is also worth adding chopped meat from the broth and the vegetables cooked in it, especially carrots.

A one-pot dish long valued in Eastern Europe, captivating with its flavour and aroma. If you have broth left from Sunday, it’s worth making chankalis.

You need about 450 grammes of raw pork ham, which you cut into small pieces and fry in a pan along with finely chopped onions and spices: salt, pepper, and dried marjoram. Then transfer to a bowl, and fry sliced mushrooms (about 200 grammes) in the pan, which are then mixed with finely chopped vegetables: white cabbage (small head), carrots (3-4), celery (small), and potatoes (3-4). Season with salt, pepper, and marjoram.

Traditionally, chankalis are prepared in small clay pots with lids. Divide the ingredients so that there are three layers of vegetables and two of meat with onions. Place a layer of vegetables at the bottom of the pot, then meat, vegetables, and meat. The top layer should be vegetables.

Add some broth to each pot, then preheat in the oven to 180°C. Bake for about 1.5 hours. After removing, add a tablespoon of sour, thick cream and a few slices of pickled cucumber to each.

This soup is worth having often as it is tasty, filling, and aromatic. Sunday’s broth will come in handy for preparing it.

Rinse dried mushrooms (about 50 grammes), soak them in cold water (about half a litre) for 2-3 hours, then cook them, adding a tablespoon of butter. Once they become soft, remove them from the heat and cut them into strips. Do not discard the resulting broth.

Peel a large onion, chop finely, and fry until golden. Then transfer it to the boiling broth (about 1 litre), along with a diced carp fillet (about 450 grammes). Simmer for 15 minutes. In the end, add the mushroom broth and chopped mushrooms and cook for a while longer, seasoning with salt and pepper.

Serve the soup with pasta and finely chopped parsley.

Initially, it was made only with stale bread and water, but this was later replaced by more nutritious broth. How can an enriched version of bread soup be prepared?

Finely chop two onions, press 1-2 garlic cloves, and dice a piece of good-quality bacon (about 200 grams). Then, fry all the ingredients in a pan. Cut a loaf of stale bread into cubes, transfer to a pot, and pour hot broth (about 1 litre). Leave the soaked bread for 10 minutes, then add the onions with bacon and a good portion of chopped greens (parsley, fresh or dried thyme, and marjoram). Bring the soup to a boil and cook for a few more minutes.

The recipe for bread soup can also be modified, for example, by replacing the bacon with sausage, such as white sausage. Sometimes, light beer is also added to the soup in addition to the stock. If you want to make the dish in an Italian style, it is also worth adding chopped tomatoes and basil leaves.