Franconian pretzel soup

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 4 pretzels or similar pretzels
• 2 large onions
• 2 carrots (yellow beet)
• 100 g bacon, diced
• 100 g cheese (butter) or Gouda
• 1 liter vegetable broth
• 200 ml beer (smoked beer), or other brown or dark beer
• 2 tbsp sour cream
• 1 tsp, heaped marjoram
• 1 tsp, leveled caraway seeds
• 1 tbsp chives
• 2 tbsp clarified butter
• 1 tbsp oil
• Salt and pepper, black

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Total time approx. 45 minutes

If you have leftover pretzels or pretzel rolls, you can make a hearty soup with them. We think it tastes considerably better than regular bread soup. Slice the onion into rings. Chop the pretzels into small pieces. Cut the yellow beets into julienne strips. Cut the chives into small rolls. Fry the bacon in oil in a pan, add the onions and brown them. Finally, briefly fry the yellow beets. Set the mixture aside in a bowl. Now lightly brown the pretzel cubes in the pan with clarified butter. Bring the browned pretzel cubes, caraway seeds, marjoram, and vegetable stock to a boil in a pot, add the bacon and vegetable mixture, and simmer for 10 minutes, or a little longer for very dry pretzels. Add the beer, sour cream, and the finely chopped or grated cheese, bring to a boil briefly, season to taste, and simmer for another 5 minutes. Sprinkle with chives and serve. Tip: You can pour the soup into mugs and top it with the cheese. Be careful with the salt; broth and pretzels are often salty enough. Instead of the yellow beets, a handful of frozen soup vegetables will also do. If you want it to be more oniony, double the amount of onions. The stated servings are rather generous. The soup is even better reheated.