Soup vegetables should be cooked tender; never crunchy. But simply dropped in the broth, vegetables become limp, lifeless and grey. The Hungarian way to cook soup vegetables is to sauté the vegetables in oil before the stock or the water is added. There is no paprika in this soup and yet the broth has a lovely orange color. That comes from the carrot slices, as you sauté the carrots they release carotene. All the vegetables seem to become more vibrant when cooked with this method. I added a bit of leftover ham to the soup at the end, but this is optional. [Sausage would overpower the delicate flavours.]
WAX BEAN SOUP
2 carrots2 parsnips
1 cup green or wax beans
1/2 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 pkg. flat leaf parsley
3 cups meat stock
• Slice the carrots, parsnip, kohlrabi, green beans, and whatever else fresh vegetables you happen to have on hand. Slice thinly.
• Dice the onion if needed and mince the garlic.
• Finely chop half a package of fresh wide leaf parsley.
• Heat 2-3 Tbsp olive oil in large pot over medium-high heat.
• Add the diced onion, the minced garlic and all the sliced vegetables to the pot.
• Finally add the chopped parsley and sprinkle with salt.
• Stir to coat the vegetables with the oil and sauté for five minutes or so.
• Add a little stock to prevent browning.
• When the vegetables are brightly coloured, pour in the stock.
• Adjust the salt and season with freshly ground pepper.
• Bring to boil, cover and slow cook until vegetables are tender.
• Remove from heat and let soup rest for 15 minutes before serving.
