North Croatian Bean Soup
This is a very old recipe my grandmother used to make. If you cook beans and have some surpluses you may use it for this soup. The soup must be a little bit sour, and DO NOT use aceto balsamico, but normal red or white wine vinegar. The best is to use white beans or beans we call in Croatia tresnjevec. I did not include beans soaking time in this recipe.
This is a very old recipe my grandmother used to make. If you cook beans and have some surpluses you may use it for this soup. The soup must be a little bit sour, and DO NOT use aceto balsamico, but normal red or white wine vinegar. The best is to use white beans or beans we call in Croatia tresnjevec. I did not include beans soaking time in this recipe.
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 clove garlic
- 100 g onion
- 1 tablespoon parsley leaves (minced)
- 1 teaspoon paprika (red dried, grounded)
- 250 g beans
- 20 g lard
- 2 teaspoons flour
- 70 g bacon (pancetta dried, smoked)
- 1/2 bay leaf
- 1/4 teaspoon hot paprika (red dried, grounded)
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 100 g sour cream
- 3 cups water (you may not use all)
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper (grounded)
- Carbohydrate 11.393875621573 g
- Cholesterol 25.4 mg
- Fat 16.665775624956 g
- Fiber 3.2373563304225 g
- Protein 5.66995062453609 g
- Saturated Fat 6.81767087499304 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (319g)
- Sodium 176.64387499991 mg
- Sugar 8.15651929115048 g
- Trans Fat 1.34018362498541 g
- Calories 213 calories
Step-by-step
- After soaking beans overnight, cook beans until soft.
- Drain the beans and put aside two teaspoons of whole beans.
- Make puree out of all other beans using blender (or whatever you use).
- Finely mince onion, garlic and bacon.
- Melt lard in a cooking pot and sauté onion until translucent.
- Add garlic and bacon and sauté it not more than 2 minutes.
- Add flour and brown it but not too much.
- Add cold water and make creamy liquid.
- Add hot and sweet paprika and stir.
- Add beans puree and whole beans, stir.
- Add bay leaf and vinegar; season with salt and pepper.
- Add water and cook about 45 minutes.
- Before serving taste the soup, if it is not sour you may drop few drops of vinegar (if you do cook for more 5 minutes).
- Add sour cream and parsley leaves and serve.
Dried white beans carry the structural weight of this dish, functioning simultaneously as the primary ingredient and the natural thickening agent. Historical legume cookery across Central Europe relies heavily on this dual role, utilizing the starch released during puréeing to build body without heavy starches or grains. Understanding this mechanics makes adjusting portion sizes straightforward.
Multiplying bean quantities requires precise management of the initial soaking phase and final liquid ratios. Dry legumes absorb varying amounts of water depending on their age, generally expanding to roughly twice or three times their original volume after soaking overnight. When doubling or tripling the batch, do not simply multiply the cooking liquid by the exact same linear factor; instead, add water gradually during the 45-minute simmer to maintain a fluid consistency rather than a dense paste. Blender capacity also dictates scaling limits. Puréeing more than two cups of cooked beans at once in a standard upright blender creates air pockets and uneven texture, meaning large batches should be processed in smaller, manageable fractions.
Temperature control during the flour and lard roux stage remains the single operational variable determining success or failure. Fat must render completely and onion must reach translucency before flour enters the pot, but the flour requires only light blond coloration. Excessive browning introduces bitterness that overpowers the subtle pork fats and sharp vinegar finish. Render lard over medium heat for roughly four to six minutes, monitoring the garlic and smoked bacon closely during their two-minute sweat to prevent acrid scorching.
Adjusting portion sizes also impacts the final acid balance. Vinegar must be added incrementally at the end of the cooking window rather than all at once, tasting continuously after a mandatory five-minute simmer to ensure the sour note cuts cleanly through the rich dairy and rendered lard.
