Grandma’s Bean Soup

My Hungarian grandma was a deeply predicable lady. Every holiday came with a large pot of hot bean soup on the stove and homemade bread on the table, probably because it’s an easy way to feed a crowd. But also, that’s just how you do things. There’s nothing wrong with delightful and hearty vegetarian food full of winter vegetables, especially when it’s cold outside.

Soup Ingredients

Grandma never measured. I’ll do my best to estimate but, to be perfectly honest, use as much of these ingredients as you have on hand.

1 medium onion, chopped

2 to 3 carrots, sliced to hearty stew-sized pieces

2 or 3 stalks celery, sliced

1 to 2 parsnips, sliced to hearty stew-sized pieces

1 can great northern beans

3 or 4 cloves of garlic, minced fine

Kosher salt

Fresh ground pepper

2-ish tablespoons sweet paprika

Pinch Noodle Ingredients

1 cup flour

1 or 2 eggs

Salt

Directions

In a big soup pot, sauté onions, carrots, celery, and parsnips until soft. Add garlic when the vegetables are almost done. Remove from heat and add salt, pepper, paprika, and canned beans (with liquid). Add water if you need extra liquid. Place soup on low heat.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, eggs, and salt to make a stiff noodle dough. It shouldn’t be sticky, so add more flour if needed. Knead the dough until smooth. Pinch off small pieces (about the size of peanut M&Ms) and place in a bowl. Dust the pinch noodles with flour so they don’t stick together.

When soup is boiling, add the noodles and cook until noodles are a firm, al dente texture.

Serve soup with a generous dollop of sour cream and ignore that uncle who insists that Area 51 is a real thing.