My roots are showing--Sauerkraut Soup

Sauerkraut Soup
Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook Copyright 2000

1 lb. smoked Polish sausage, cut into ½-inch pieces
5 medium potatoes, cubed I only added 2 or 3
2 large onions, chopped I added half of a very large onion
2 large carrots, cut into ¼-inch slices I added 3 or 4 carrots
42-45 oz. can chicken broth
32-oz. can or bag sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
6-oz. can tomato paste

1. Combine all ingredients in large slow cooker. Stir to combine.
2. Cover. Cook on High 2 hours, and then on Low 6-8 hours.
3. Serve with rye bread.
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Both my mother's and father's families come from Poland and my husband's family comes from Russia or close to it so dishes like this are a natural fit for us. We grew up eating this sort of thing.

This makes a lot of soup! Well, I would say it's almost a stew. It's very thick. It filled my crockpot practically to the top, and I held back a bit on the potatoes and onion since I was concerned about not having enough room (and I knew I would be freezing some of it so I didn't want to add a lot of potatoes which don't freeze in soup very well).

I thought this came out perfectly. The kielbasi was extremely tender. The potatoes were just right - not mushy, not hard. I did rinse the sauerkraut briefly but the soup still had a lot of zip. It seemed almost medicinal since we're all fighting coughs and colds here.

I may not have had time to make any major changes around here but I have a few extra days off this week and I did a lot of cooking yesterday so I'm feeling a bit revived anyway.

Question of the Day: Do you like sauerkraut? How often do you eat it?