Zupa cygańska is Gypsy soup and is so called because it contains red peppers. I think the smoky meats may also evoke the idea of camp fires.
Ingredients
- 4 large tomatoes
- 2 red or orange peppers
- 1 large onion
- 4 medium potatoes
- 100g smoked bacon – chopped into small pieces
- 200g of Polish sausage – sliced and chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 2-3 grains of allspice
- 3-4 peppercorns
- a little sunflower oil for frying
- Chopped flat-leaved parsley to serve
Method
- Use boiling water to skin the tomatoes and leave to cool.
- Chop the tomatoes into quarters.
- De-seed the peppers.
- Chop the peppers into small pieces.
- Chop the onion into small pieces.
- Fry the onion gently for a few minutes in a large frying pan.
- Add the chopped tomatoes & peppers.
- Fry gently for a couple of minutes.
- Add the bacon & sausage and mix.
- Cover the mixture with water and cover with a lid.
- Cook gently for around 10 minutes.
- Transfer the ingredients to a large saucepan.
- Add the bay leaves, all-spice and peppercorns.
- Add around 1.5 litres of water and bring to the boil.
- Cover with a lid and simmer gently for around 30 minutes.
- Peel the potatoes and cut them into large “cubes”.
- Add the potatoes to the soup and cook gently until the potatoes are cooked.
- Serve with chopped flat-leaved parsley.
Note
Do not let the potatoes disintegrate into a pulp.
Served in Royal Stafford – Blossom Time from the 1950s.
Note
If you do not have the fresh ingredients you could use tinned tomatoes and bottled peppers.
