Sauerkraut soup with minced meat and Mettenden

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 500 g minced meat, mixed
• 3 onions, diced
• 4 Mettwurst sausages
• 1 slice(s) smoked bacon
• 500 g sauerkraut
• ½ jar gherkins, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp paprika powder
• 200 ml cream
• broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 juniper berries
• Salt
• Tabasco

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour 20 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 40 minutes

Not for meat-eaters and calorie counters

Fry the diced onions and minced meat in a pan with oil until cooked through. Deglaze with a splash of stock and transfer everything to a large pot. Add the sauerkraut, the mettenden sausages, and the slice of bacon to the pot and keep adding stock until everything is covered. Season with paprika, salt, and pepper, and add the bay leaves and juniper berries. Let it simmer for 70 minutes over low to medium heat. Then remove the mettenden sausages from the soup, let them cool briefly, and cut them into bite-sized pieces. If you like, you can do the same with the bacon. It also tastes delicious if you chop the bacon into small pieces and fry the particularly fatty pieces in the pan until crispy. Add it back to the soup along with the finely chopped gherkins and the cream and stir everything well. Finally, season with salt and, if you like it spicy, Tabasco.