Soljanka

Soljanka is a tasty Russian soup that made with vegetables and different kind of meats.

 You will need:

Beef (preferably on the bone) - 500-600 g;
Water - 2.5-3 liters;
Onions - 2;
Carrot - 1;
Smoked bacon - 200 g;
Smoked sausage - 200 g (can take several kinds of sausages and other smoked meats);
Potatoes - 3;
Pickled cucumbers - 3-4;
Tomato sauce - 2-3 tablespoons or 1 full tablespoon of tomato paste;
Bay leaves - 1-2;
4-3 pea allspice;
Lemon -1;
Olives - to taste;
Parsley;
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

     Preparation:

 Wash meat and put in a pot with cold water. Add 1 peeled whole onion and cleaned carrot into the pan with the meat. Bring water to boil, reduce heat and remove the foam. Cook at low  for ~ 1-1.5 hours until  meat is tender, removing the foam. Add salt, pepper, allspice and bay leaves 5 minutes before the end of cooking  meat.

  Remove meat, onion and carrot  from the broth.  Wash potatoes, peel and cut into cubes. Peel and finely chop another onion. Cut cucumbers  into small cubes.

  Cut the meat into small pieces. Cut bacon and sausages in a small pieces (more different kinds of smoked meat added - more interesting and rich taste of the soup will be).

   Add potatoes in the broth, bring to boil and simmer for about 15 minutes until soft. Fry the onion in a  frying pan with a small amount of oil until soft.

  When potatoes are ready, add fried onion, tomato sauce and cucumbers. Simmer  for 3-5 minutes. Then add sliced ​​meat, bring to boil again and cook for about 5 minutes on low heat. At the end of the cooking add chopped parsley. Turn off the heat, cover pan with the lid and let stand Soljanka for about 10 minutes.

When serving, put  one slice of lemon and chopped olives / rings /  on each plate.

Serve Soljanka with sour cream.