Slovak Lettuce Soup Salatova Polievka Recipe

Name: Slovak Lettuce Soup (Salatova Polievka) Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour; 2 tablespoons butter or bacon drippings; 2 1/2 cups cold chicken broth or water; 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour; 2 1/2 cups milk or 2 cups milk + 1/2 cup heavy cream; 1 head chopped iceberg lettuce; 2 tablespoons sugar; 5 tablespoons vinegar; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill; Dash salt and pepper; Optional Garnish:; Hard-cooked eggs; Skinned and sliced smoked sausage; Bacon bits; Mashed potatoes; Fresh dill sprigs

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 20 mins

Total: 30 mins

Servings: 4 servings

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This fast-and-easy recipe for Slovak lettuce soup or šalátová polievka is adapted from one by Lubos Brieda.

It can be made very simply for those times when meat cannot be eaten or fleshed out with the addition of bacon or sausage, hard-cooked eggs, and boiled potatoes.

At the very least, I like to use chicken stock instead of water. The major components one shouldn't mess with, however, are the vinegar, sugar, and dill. They are what make lettuce soup what it is. This dish is a prime candidate for wilted, but not brown, lettuce.

4 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter, or bacon drippings
2 1/2 cups cold chicken broth, or water
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups milk, or 2 cups milk plus 1/2 cup heavy cream
1 head chopped iceberg lettuce
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1 dash salt
1 dash freshly ground black pepper

Optional Garnish:

Hard-boiled eggs, optional, for garnish
Smoked sausage, optional, for garnish
Bacon bits, optional, for garnish
Mashed potatoes, optional, for garnish
Fresh dill sprigs, optional, for garnish

Gather the ingredients.
In a medium saucepan, make a roux by melting butter or bacon drippings with 4 tablespoons flour and cooking until flour is light brown.
Stir in broth or water and bring to a boil.
Whisk together 1 teaspoon flour with milk or milk-cream combination. Add to saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer a few minutes.
Add lettuce, sugar, vinegar, and dill. Bring to a boil and turn off heat.
Adjust seasonings and serve in heated bowls with optional hard-cooked eggs, skinned and sliced smoked sausage, bacon bits, and mashed potatoes, if desired.
Garnish with a sprig of dill.
Enjoy!

Eastern European Milk Soups

The base for this lettuce soup is a combination of broth or water and milk and cream. But it is not thickened to the point of being a creamed soup. It is still quite thin. If it weren't for the lettuce, vinegar, and dill in this recipe, it could be considered an Eastern European milk soup of sorts.

True milk soup is always eaten hot either for breakfast or as an easily digested meal for the sick. They were a staple at Polish milk bars (bar mleczny) during the Communist era.
Among farmers, milk soup was a means of using up cow's milk that couldn't be turned into cheese, butter or buttermilk because of time or manpower constraints.

Today, it is a universal comfort food often served with noodles, bread, rice, barley, farina, millet or potatoes.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
206	Calories
8g	Fat
26g	Carbs
8g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories	206
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 8g	10%
Saturated Fat 5g	23%
Cholesterol 26mg	9%
Sodium 850mg	37%
Total Carbohydrate 26g	9%
Dietary Fiber 2g	7%
Total Sugars 18g
Protein 8g
Vitamin C 4mg	20%
Calcium 229mg	18%
Iron 1mg	7%
Potassium 470mg	10%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.