Croation Zagorski Strukli Soup

I was searching for a soup I had seen referenced on the Daily Show when I ran across this one from boondockingrecipes.com. Upon reading it I was reminded of soup dumplings which I have been wanting to try my hand at. This recipe is for a classic Croation cheese based dumpling which cam varies between cheese and dough layered dumplings to ones that are more ravioli or soup dumpling style.

I decided to make this soup based on  boondockingrecipes.com which is more of a soup dumpling style. I used their dough recipe, but changed the broth and base so that it was more of a meal. The dumplings give the soup the primary body, while the poached chicken and vegetables turn it into more of a meal with texture, body, and flavor. Additionally, I made crispy chicken skins to crumble on top of the soup as a garnish with fresh herbs.

This is another soup that I made in stages. First I made the broth and fortified it with preserved lemons and spices. Once the broth had the flavor I wanted I poached off the chicken, celery, and carrots to add more flavor to the liquid. I wanted to keep the broth on the clear side, so I decided to poach off the strukli in a separate liquid. Once the strukli were poached and cooled, the chicken and vegetables prepared and cooked, I built the base of the soup. I sauteed the root vegetables and onions to the softness I wanted them, then put in the chicken and blanched vegetables. I cooked them briefly to mix and marry the flavors the cooled everything. From this point I built the soup per person and added around 4 or 5 dumplings, a healthy spoonful of chicken and vegetables, and finally broth, then garnish.

I mention in my strukli recipe that while looking up the dumplings I ran into other versions. A fair amount of the Croatian Strukli are more of layered and folded dough with cheese in-between. I will try that style of dumpling in the future, or possibly make it as more of a layered casserole, but this recipe turned out wonderfully. You can swap the filling to make different style dumplings, but I wanted to mimic a loose cheese base.

And lastly, with any of my soups, feel free to change up the flavors and textures. The dumplings carry this soup, but the added root vegetables, the thickness of the broth, the spice and salt level, these are all variables to adjust to your liking to make this your own.

Enjoy.

---

---

Ingredients

• carrots, chopped 3 ea

• celery, chopped 4 ribs

• onion, chopped 2 ea

• rutabaga, cubed 1 ea

• celery root, cubed 2 ea

• garlic, minced 2 cloves

• chili peppers, crushed 2 ea

• chicken broth ` 3 qt

• water 1 qt

• avenue spice 1 T

• preserved lemons 2 T

• bay leaves 4 ea

• sherry vinegar 2 T

• chicken breast 1 lb

• dill 3 sprigs

• salt to taste

• pepper to taste

• extra virgin olive oil 1 T

Garnish

crispy chicken skins, dill, parsley

Method of Procedure

1. Put your chicken stock and water into your broth pot and heat. Add your preserved lemons, bay leaves, sherry vinegar, salt, and pepper. Bring your broth to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes. Season to taste.

2. While you are fortifying your broth, prepare your vegetables.

3. Poach your chicken breast off for around 12 minutes on a simmer until the chicken is cooked through, but not firm. Remove, cool, and cube it.

4. Blanche off your celery and carrots and shock.

5. Heat your soup pot then add your olive oil. Once it begins to shimmer, add your onions, garlic, and crushed chilies.

6. Saute while stirring for about 15 minutes or until your onions begin to brown.

7. Add your rutabagas, celery root, and avenue spice then cook while stirring for about 30 minutes until your root vegetables have become tender.

8. Add your chicken and poached vegetables to the root vegetables and continue to cook while stirring. Season to taste.*

9. Once the base has blended remove from heat and cool.

10. To plate your soup, heat a sauce pan and add your chicken and vegetable base.

11. Cook your base for about 5 minutes then add 4-5 dumplings and about 8 oz of broth.

12. Bring to a simmer and cook until dumplings are heated, about 8-10 minutes on low heat.

13. Plate, garnish with parsley, dill, and crispy chicken skins.

    *This is the best place to adjust your base seasonings. The dumplings are basically seasoned and at this point your broth should be rich and it should have a balanced combination of salty and sour.