Bobena Chorba
(Bulgarian Bean Soup)

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Details

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

15 min

Serves

Hello everyone!

Today’s recipe is a staple dish in Bulgarian cuisine – Bobena Chorba (or Bulgarian Bean Soup)

I hope you’ll like & try this recipe!

Preparation

Step 1

½ package dry large white beans, soaked in water over night.

Step 2

Before you cook next day, on the very surface of the water you will see the skin from the beans. Take them out. You can shake the beans in the pot to help more skin to come off. Because the skin is very thick and hard to digest, people with sensitive stomach will have issue, like, therefore I like to remove the skin. If you forget to soak the beans overt night, you can boil the beans three times and change the water, until you have remove plenty of skin. Changing the water will also help to reduce the inflammation in your stomach some people might have.

Step 3

Place the beans in fresh water and put on high heat to get the water boiling.

Step 4

Add the following:
- ½ white onion - chopped
- 1 full tbsp of chopped garlic - I love a lot of garlic, if you are not a fan, cut that amount to half
- 1 large carrot - peeled if necessary, if not - washed & chopped. I prefer not to waste anything, therefore we wash and brush the carrots at Nonna’s Kitchen. If we have to peel the carrots, we save the skin and use them in soups and sauces. We do the same with potatoes, we soak them in water and then we brush them before we use in our meals. The skin has a lot of nutrients that we try not to waste.
- 1 large bell pepper - any color is fine, here I am using orange bell pepper - chopped.
- 1tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp marjoram, thyme and sage, all mixed together. I use savory which is traditional Bulgarian herb that I bring from Bulgaria every time I go home.
- 1 tbsp vegetable broth paste
- 2 tbsp paprika
- 1 cup tomato sauce plain, not salted. In Bulgaria we use fresh tomato and we grate the juice, unfortunately we don’t have tomatoes like the ones in Bulgaria here. The taste is so much better.
- 2 tbsp of sunflower oil , its lighter or olive oil, for richer flavor - beans and rice love fat, you can add as much oil as you want.

Because I used vegetable paste i didn’t use any salt. When you cook beans, remember to add salt at the very end. Salt stops beans from cooking, actually prolongs the cooking process, therefore you add the salt before you serve.

Step 5

When the water starts to boil, remove any additional skin, that can come to the surface and put the stove on low, cover with lid and let it cook for 45 minutes until the beans are fully cooked.

Step 6

In Bulgaria we usually thicken the bean soup with paste made with paprika and flour and water and slowly add to the soup. Due to many gluten allergies in Bermuda I avoid to use any flour. I put all my ingredients together and let it cook slow like a stew, which means that most of the beans will break down and thicken the soup naturally.

Step 7

If you’d like some additional flavor, sautée some turkey kielbasa sausage and add to the soup.

Step 8

Finish it with chopped parsley. In Bulgaria we use parsley a lot, its loaded with vitamin C and its very healthy. I have loads of parsley at Nonna’s and my fridge at home.

Serve

The bean soup tastes even better with freshly baked ciabatta bread. Enjoy!

** Here is how you can freeze and use parsley daily:

Wash and dry on kitchen towel. Wrap in paper towel and place in ziplock bag. Place in the freezer. Do not forget to label the bag. I have multiple bags in my freezer and helps me to know which is which.

Hello everyone!

Today’s recipe is a staple dish in Bulgarian cuisine – Bobena Chorba (or Bulgarian Bean Soup)

I hope you’ll like & try this recipe!

Ingredients

One half (½) package dry large white beans

One half (½) white onion

One (1) full tbsp of chopped garlic

One (1) large carrot

One (1) large bell pepper

One (1) tbsp black pepper

Turkey kielbasa sausage

One (1) tbsp marjoram, thyme and sage

One (1) tbsp vegetable broth paste

Two (2) tbsp paprika

One (1) cup tomato sauce plain

Two (2) tbsp of sunflower oil

Parsley

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Enjoy and don’t forget to tag us #nonnaskitchenbermuda on Instagram so we can share your beautiful creations.

Bobena Chorba (Bulgarian Bean Soup)