The way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach. Right? Absolutely. That’s why today I’d like to share with you the recipe for my favorite soup ever.
The way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach. Right? Absolutely. That’s why today I’d like to share with you the recipe for my favorite soup ever. Adapted a long time ago from a magazine, I’ve brought it to Christmas dinners, cooked it for simple meals at friends’ houses or just for myself. This German-Asian fusion is easy to make, doesn’t take a long list of ingredients and is (almost) guaranteed to win over her heart. Unless she’s a vegetarian because I have yet to succeed in figuring out a vegetarian version of this recipe.


Kohlrabi Soup with Dumplings and Rice Noodles (serves 4 as an appetizer)

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 20minutes



Ingredients:
3-4 small kohlrabis* (see note)

2 cloves of garlic

1 TB canola or grape seed oil

4 cups veggie or chicken broth (dilute store bought broth with â…“ water)

2-4 sausages (Italian sausage works fine)

4 oz skinny rice noodles
salt, pepper
harissa or hot sauce
chives for decoration


*Kohlrabi is northern European vegetable, available at many Asian and health food stores. Crunchy and low in calories, it’s good cooked or raw. Small kohlrabis have better flavor than big ones and you don’t have to peel them as thickly.
Directions:
Peel the kohlrabis, making sure to get rid of any stringy surface layers. Cut them in half, slice and cut into thick matchstick-sized pieces. The leaves contain a lot of good calcium, so if you were lucky enough to get kohlrabi with a few leaves, feel free to finely chop those to and add them to your soup as well. 

Sautee minced garlic in oil for 2 minutes, add kohlrabi pieces. Sautee until kohlrabi gets a bit of color, but don’t let it burn. 

Add broth, bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes. 
S
queeze the meat out of the sausage skins and form hazelnut-sized dumplings. Toss them into your soup and cook approximately 5 minutes.

In the meantime prepare your noodles in a separate pot. I used Vietnamese rice sticks, but any thin Asian rice noodles will do. Since you don’t want them to get too soggy and soak up all the broth, I suggest to cook them in a different pot according to package instructions and not throw them in with the soup. 

Now it’s time to add a bit of spice to your life. I like to use mild and spicy Italian sausage, but but if you have any harissa, hot sauce or sambal at home, you might want to consider adding some to your concoction. And don’t forget to season with salt and pepper.

Ladle noodles and soup into individual bowls and decorate with chopped chives and serve.

Bon Appetite. Or as my favorite four-year-old friend would say: Yummy dumpeling soup!
