Hi, dear PassionSpoon’s readers. Have you missed me? I just came back from vacation in my homeland Slovenia. Wow, what an amazing time I had! Great people, beautiful places and delicious food. And among all the presents, souvenirs and memories, I brought home some inspiration too. It’s also been a while since I wrote a recipe for a Slovenian national dish. I present you “Ječmenka”.
Ječmenka is a thick soup based on barley and vegetables. Of course, in the past fifty or sixty years, many variations were created. Many food lovers (especially my mother) would always add a tasty sausage or pieces of prosciutto to it. Sausage is normally added toward the end of cooking, while prosciutto (cubes, not slices) goes in straight at the beginning.
My mother was also the one who taught me how to make ječmenka. It consists of simple ingredients. On one hand it’s a poor dish, but on the other hand, it’s rich in flavour. Another good thing about it is that it makes your tummy happy and full. In the old days, they added the sausage or other meat mostly to give people, who worked in the fields and vineyards, some strength. Back than meat was, let’s call it luxury. While today it’s more an add-on, an additional flavour.
It’s on you to decide whether to use a sausage or not. I chose to go for it because I like it. Vegetarians, please skip the meat. Heheheh. Keep reading to find out how to prepare this typical Slovenian dish. Try it and you’ll feel what Slovenia tastes like.
Ingredients for 4 portions of Ječmenka:
- 2 carrots
- 3 potatoes
- ¼ celery root
- 1 leek
- 3 handfuls of barley
- a small bunch of parsley
- olive oil
- 1 Tbsp flour
- 3 Tbsp sweet corn (from a can)
- 2-3 Tbsp kidney beans (from a can)
- 4 sausages
- salt and pepper
I always first prepare (cut, dice, slice) all the ingredients that I’m going to use. So let’s start! Clean and wash all the vegetables. Peel the potatoes and the celery root. Then dice them, except one potato. Why? I am going to explain it a little bit further in the recipe. Chop the leek and parsley. Cut the carrots into cubes. Try to cut everything into same-sized pieces (ca 1-1,5cm).
Prepare a deep pot and drizzle some oil in it. When it gets hot, add the diced potatoes, carrots, celery and the chopped leek. Stir-fry for a couple of minutes. Now it’s the time to add the flour. This will help to thicken the soup. So, sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir well. Be careful not to burn it. Then pour in the warm water to cover everything, add the parsley and the whole potato, stir and cover.
Once it starts to simmer add the barley and season well. Let it simmer on medium heat for about 20-25 minutes, with occasional stirring.
In the meantime, prepare the sausages; either in a pan or simply cooked. I like them in a pan, but this is again just my personal taste. The way you prepare the sausage also depends on what kind of sausage you use. Back to our thick soup “Ječmenka”.
Once the barley is soft and the big potato is cooked, catch the potato with a ladle and mash it using a spoon. Then put it back in the pot. This is another trick on how to thicken the soup. Stir in also the sweet corn, kidney beans and place the sausages on top. The sausages can be left either whole or you can cut them. I prefer keeping them in one piece. I have a feeling that they taste better like that. Continue cooking on medium heat for another 10-15 minutes till all the flavours blend perfectly.
Serve Ječmenka topped with a delicious sausage whenever you need a bowl of soul-warming food. Enjoy the real taste of Slovenia.
Dober tek!
