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PasuljSerbian bean soup

The Balkan white bean soup of dried beans simmered with smoked pork (ribs, hock, bacon or sausage), onion and a paprika-and-flour roux, served thick in a bowl with bread.

Origin and history

Pasulj is regarded in Serbia as a national bean dish: Serbian press reported that three Serbian bean dishes (pasulj, čorbasti pasulj and prebranac) appear in TasteAtlas's ranking of the 100 best bean dishes in the world, with pasulj in sixth place. The same soup is cooked across the Balkans, as grah in Croatia and Bosnia and bob čorba in Bulgaria, almost always with smoked pork.

Make it at home

Makes: 6 servings
Total time: 2 h
Hands-on: 30 min

Ingredients

Metric US

500 g1 lb (about 2 1/2 cups) dried white beans, tetovac if you can find it; otherwise great northern or cannellini; soaked overnight
400 g14 oz smoked pork ribs, hock or thick smoked bacon, in large pieces; part smoked sausage is fine
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, diced
1 small tomato or sweet pepper, cut in large pieces
2 bay leaves
60 ml1/4 cup sunflower oil or lard, for the roux (zaprška)
3 cloves garlic, grated
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp sweet paprika, or half smoked paprika
salt and black pepper, to taste
chopped parsley, to serve

Method

1. Soak the beans in cold water for at least 6 hours or overnight, then drain.
2. Put the beans in a large pot, cover with fresh water and bring to a boil; boil for 20 minutes, then drain and throw away that water.
3. Return the beans to the pot with fresh water to cover by 5 cm (2 in), add the smoked meat, onions, carrots, tomato or pepper and bay leaves.
4. Simmer gently, partly covered, for 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes at about 95 °C (200 °F), adding hot water when the level drops, until the beans are soft and the meat is tender.
5. Season with salt and pepper (go carefully: smoked meat is salty) and lower the heat so the pot barely bubbles.
6. For the roux, warm the oil in a small pan, stir in the garlic for 30 seconds, then the flour for another 30 seconds, then the paprika; take it off the heat immediately so the paprika does not burn.
7. Pour the roux into the soup in a stream, stirring, and simmer 5 to 10 minutes until the broth is lightly thick and glossy.
8. Fish out the bay leaves, scatter with parsley and serve hot with bread, raw onion or pickled vegetables.

Notes

Total time: 2 h (plus overnight soaking).
This is čorbasti pasulj, the brothy form eaten with a spoon; the dry, oven-baked bean dish prebranac is a separate dish.
Serbian sources name the white tetovac bean as the classic; it is creamy and holds its shape. Any white bean works, but cooking times change.
Smoked ribs, hock, sausage or dried meat are all used; a few cooks add dried paprika (suvi paprika) or meatballs (ćufte) alongside. Vojvodina versions are thicker, Niš versions spicier.
The same dish is eaten across the Balkans under other names: grah in Croatia and Bosnia, bob čorba in Bulgaria.
Pasulj is better the next day. Raw onion or pickled peppers and cabbage are the usual accompaniment.

Adapted from The Balkan Hostess: Čorbast Pasulj, N1 Srbija: TasteAtlas 100 najboljih jela od pasulja, and Kurir: Ova 3 jela iz Srbije na listi 100 najboljih jela od pasulja.