Sauerkraut Soup I

Goes great with fish sandwiches, or nice chewy breadsticks. Make sure you serve the soup piping hot. I don't rinse off my sauerkraut because we like our soup tart. If you want, though, you can rinse it.

• Preparation Time: 10 mins
• Cooking Time: 1 hr 35 mins
• Total Time: 1 hr 45 mins
• Calories: 205 Calories

Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 1 ½ cups boiling water
• 1 onion, finely diced
• salt and pepper to taste
• ½ cup barley
• ⅓ cup dried mushrooms
• 1 (32 ounce) jar sauerkraut with juice
• 1 ½ quarts water

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Steep mushrooms in 1 1/2 cups of boiling water until they are soft and you can chop them (I use a food processor). Save the water to add to the soup. It gives it a nice rich color.

Step 2

Put sauerkraut, sauerkraut juice, and 1 1/2 quarts water in soup pot (5-quart Dutch oven is fine). Bring to a boil, add chopped mushrooms and mushroom water. Turn down heat and simmer for one hour.

Step 3

Add barley (make sure you rinse it first), cook until barley is done.

Step 4

In the meantime, melt the butter and saute onions until they're soft. Add the flour to the onion mixture to thicken. Add some of the boiling liquid from your soup to the onion mixture and when smooth add to soup.

Step 5

Add salt and pepper to taste. If soup is too thick for your taste, add a little more sauerkraut juice mixed with water. Enjoy.