Homestyle Russian Onion Soup (Solyanka)
Serves: 8
Prep time: 10 Mins
Cook time: 10 Mins Sauté, 10 Mins Under High Pressure
Difficulty: Intermediate
After a trip north-west to visit the old farm that we used to live on when I was a kid, Mum and I went through some of her old German recipe books. These date back as far as the turn of the last century, through to the present day (Mum and her other half have more than a few books in their library). In a 1976 paperback cookbook by German actress Barbara Rütting, I found this old favourite — Russische Zwiebelsuppe (Russian Onion Soup), or Солянка (Solyanka) in Russian. We updated this via a dive into some of Mum's other cookbooks, keeping the electric pressure cooker in mind.
This soup manages to be robust yet concurrently delicate, with a sweet-savoury richness from the onions, the salty deliciousness of the capers and olives, and tangy freshness of the lemon, cream and dill.
Ingredients
8 medium white or yellow onions, sliced medium-fine
6 tbsp canola, rice-bran or sunflower oil
2 litres (8 cups) vegetable or chicken stock (we prefer low sodium for this recipe)
3 cups medium-sliced "coins" of sliced carrots and celery
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp seasoned/vegetable salt or Old Bay (taste 1st and adjust amount to suit, especially if you don't use low sodium stock)
1 tbsp minced garlic (fresh or jar; add more to taste if desired)
3 bay leaves (fresh if possible)
½ tsp ground nutmeg
3-4 decent "grinds" of fresh cracked black pepper
For that homely touch (home made croutons)
4 slices rye bread
4 tbsp olive oil
1 small bunch fresh parsley (chopped finely, approx. 1 tbsp)
To garnish
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh dill
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
3-5 brined capers per bowl (optional)
3-5 black brined olives per bowl (optional)
1–2 lemon slices per bowl
1 tbsp white sugar
1 cup whipping cream
Juice of ½ lemon
Equipment
Pressure cooker
Frying pan
Mixing bowl
Electric whisk, beaters or immersion blender
See our guide to pressure cooker pantry essentials to find out more about these ingredients, our recommendations, and where to buy them.
Directions
To make the soup:
Put your cooker onto sauté or browning mode (“Sauté” button on Instant Pot, “Manual > Browning” on Cook4me)
Pour 6 tbsp vegetable oil into cooker
Add chopped onion, carrots and celery - sauté until onions soften and go translucent, stirring well and frequently to coat the vegetables in the oil and cook evenly (approx. 5 mins)
Stir through garlic, seasoned salt/Old Bay, and nutmeg
Sauté for a further 3-5 minutes to allow flavours to develop, stirring frequently
Add the vegetable or chicken stock, tomato paste and bay leaves; bring liquid to a boil, stirring to prevent any ingredients from sticking to the bottom of the pot
Close and seal the pressure cooker lid
Select the pressure cooking mode on high pressure (“Manual” on Instant Pot, “Manual > Quick cook” on the Cook4Me) - set the cooking cycle to run for 10 minutes.
Make the croutons and cream garnish while the cooker is cooking - see below
Once the pressure cooker has finished, “Quick release” the steam if your cooker does not do this automatically.
Open the pressure cooker, remove the bay leaves, taste and add the cracked pepper and any additional seasoning to taste
Return the cooker to “keep warm” mode (If your cooker does not do this automatically), to keep the soup warm until serving
To make the croutons:
Dice the 4 slices rye bread into approx ½ inch cubes
Drizzle the 4 tbsp oil onto the frying pan and heat until shimmering
Add the bread and parsley to the frying pan and gently stir, gently “lift and fold” the cubes to coat in oil - the oil should soak into the bread
Continue stirring, “lifting and folding” gently until the bread goes golden brown and “crispy”
To make the cream garnish:
Whip the cream with the sugar until it thickens
Fold through 1tbsp finely chopped dill and lemon juice until combined (reserving 1 tbsp dill for additional garnish when serving)
To serve:
Place a small handful of croutons in the centre of each bowl
Ladle the soup into bowls, over the croutons
Spoon a generous 1-2 tbsp dollop of the cream into the centre of the bowl over the croutons
Sprinkle a small amount of chopped dill and parsley over the cream
Place 1-2 lemon slices so that they float at "12 o'clock" in the bowl.
Place capers on cream and olives in the soup (optional)
Serve with a tart wine such as a Pinot Gris, or an aromatic wine such as a Gewürztraminer.
Tip:
This is a modern take on a 1970s German interpretation of a Ukrainian/Russian classic, and there are seemingly infinite variations to the recipe for this soup, many of which include meats such as salami, chicken, bacon, etc., as well as vegetables including tomato, cabbage, etc. If you have a Soviet background (or a post-Soviet one!), you will likely have a family-specific recipe for this dish — we're keen to hear yours, so please feel free to post or link yours below!
Guten Appetit!
Do you have any twists or favourite adjustments to this recipe? Let is know in the comments below!