🇧🇬 Bulgaria
Supa topchetaBulgarian meatball soup
A Bulgarian soup of small meatballs of minced beef or pork and rice simmered with onion, carrot, celery and sometimes vermicelli or rice, usually finished with a застройка of egg yolk and yoghurt.
Origin and history
Supa topcheta, meatball soup, is a staple of Bulgarian home cooking, made with small meatballs of mince and rice and often finished with an egg and yoghurt or milk zastroyka. A Bulgarian cook's page says the soup has been known since at least the 1930s and that its present name became established in the 1970s; it cites no source for the dates, so treat them as a local claim. Bulgarian recipe pages describe it as a classic comfort food, typical of the colder months.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 6 servings
- Total time
- 1 h 15 min
- Hands-on
- 35 min
Ingredients
- 250 g9 oz minced beef, pork or a mix, pork is common in Bulgaria
- 30 g2 tbsp rice for the meatballs, boiled 5 minutes, rinsed and cooled
- 1 small onion, finely chopped, for the meatballs
- 1 egg white
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, plus more for the pot
- 1/2 tsp dried savory (chubritsa), optional; or a little oregano and thyme
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 60 g1/2 cup flour, for dusting the meatballs (optional)
- 2 l8 cups water or beef broth
- 1 onion, finely chopped, for the soup
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
- 30 g1 oz celery root, diced
- 30 g1 oz tomato, fresh or canned, chopped or strained
- 30 g2 tbsp rice or fide (vermicelli), rinsed; for the soup
- 2 tbsp sunflower or olive oil
- 1 egg yolk, for the zastroyka
- 30 g2 tbsp plain sour yoghurt (kiselo mlyako), Bulgarian if possible
- salt, to taste
Method
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1. Mix the mince with the cooled rice, chopped onion, egg white, parsley, savory, pepper and salt and knead until the mixture sticks together; chill for 15 minutes.
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2. Shape into small balls, about the size of a walnut, and roll them lightly in flour.
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3. Heat the oil in a large pot, add the chopped onion, carrot, pepper and celery root and cook for about 5 minutes.
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4. Pour in the water or broth, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
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5. Lower in the meatballs one at a time, cover and simmer for 20 minutes without stirring hard.
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6. Add the tomato and simmer for 10 minutes, then add the rinsed rice or vermicelli and cook, covered, for 15 to 20 minutes more, until soft.
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7. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolk, yoghurt and flour, then slowly stir in 1 to 2 ladles of hot broth.
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8. Take the pot off the heat and pour in the mixture in a thin stream, stirring constantly; do not boil again.
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9. Sprinkle with parsley and serve hot with bread.
Notes
- The zastroyka (a liaison of egg, yoghurt and flour tempered with hot broth) is optional in the Bulgarian recipes read: one leaves it out and serves the soup clear, another uses egg yolk and milk instead of yoghurt. Take the pot off the heat before stirring it in so it does not curdle.
- Savory (chubritsa) appears in one Bulgarian-travel recipe and is the typical Bulgarian herb; the Appetit version uses only parsley. Vegetables vary: Appetit lists onion, carrot, green pepper, celery root and tomato, others add potato or chili.
- Quantities follow the Appetit version (250 g mince, 30 g rice for the meatballs, 30 g rice for the soup, 2 l of liquid) and its thickener (1 yolk, 15 g flour, 30 g yoghurt). A travel-guide recipe uses 500 g of mince for four and a whole egg with 30 g of flour and 400 g of sour milk, a thicker, tangier soup.
- Serve hot with bread. It keeps for 3 days in the fridge; reheat gently, since the zastroyka may separate.
Adapted from Appetit.bg: Supa topcheta, klasicheska retsepta, Guide Bulgaria: Bulgarian meatball soup, and A. Bossakova: Supa topcheta, traditional Bulgarian recipe.
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