4 great recipes for legume soup like grandma’s. Get inspired!

A famous saying says that soup is grunt.

Soups are healthy, hearty, and you can easily incorporate all sorts of “leftovers” into them.

A great example are the various recipes for handful soup, a classic of old Bohemian cuisine.

It will satiate, warm and supply your body with proteins, fiber, vitamins and minerals.

Get inspiration not only for the winter months!

An honest handful of soup

Rich soup with legumes is a popular dish not only for vegetarians and vegans. Do you want it to be as dense as possible? Add a handful of your favorite legumes more!

Ingredients

• 1 handful of lentils
• 1 handful of beans
• 1 handful of peas
• 1 handful of groats
• 2 carrots
• 2 parsley
• 1 onion
• 1 potato
• 8-9 cups vegetable broth
• Bay leaf
• marjoram
• olive oil
• salt pepper
• fresh parsley for garnish

Method

1. Soak all legumes and grains overnight in a bowl of cold water.
2. Fry the finely chopped onion in a pot with olive oil.
3. Add the chopped carrots, parsley and stir-fry for approximately 5 minutes.
4. Add the vegetable broth and bring to a boil.
5. Add peas, beans, lentils, grits, diced potatoes, marjoram and bay leaf.
6. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. Serve garnished with fresh parsley.

Bacon Handful Soup

Lentil soup with smoked meat is a classic of Czech cuisine. Let’s imagine its slightly more diverse variant with bacon. Instead of bacon, you can also prepare a version with smoked meat or sausage. It just depends on what you prefer.

Ingredients

• 1 handful of peas
• 1 handful of lentils
• 1 handful of groats
• 100 g of bacon
• 3 carrots
• 1 onion
• 8 cups chicken stock
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 stalk of celery
• thyme
• sage
• caraway seeds
• salt
• oil

Method

1. Soak the pulses and grits the day before.
2. Lightly fry the bacon cut into pieces in a pot in a small amount of oil.
3. Add finely chopped onion and garlic, followed by carrots and celery.
4. Pour the chicken stock into the pot and add the peas, lentils, grits, salt and spices.
5. Cook until the pulses are soft.
6. Add water if necessary.

Handful soup with potatoes and mushrooms

Have you returned from a winter trip and don’t know what to have for dinner? Soup with a mixture of legumes, vegetables and mushrooms is a great solution. It is tasty, hearty and will quickly give you lost energy.

Ingredients

• 1 handful of lentils
• 1 handful of peas
• 1 handful of groats
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 carrots
• 3-4 potatoes
• 30 g of mushrooms
• 500 ml of vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon of tomato puree
• olive oil
• red pepper
• Bay leaf
• marjoram
• salt pepper
• fresh herbs (parsley, chives, thyme) for decoration

Method

1. Soak the lentils, peas and chickpeas in a bowl of water overnight.
2. Fry the chopped onion in a pot with a little olive oil. When it becomes translucent, add chopped garlic, carrots, parsley, mushrooms and tomato puree.
3. Stir and sauté for a few minutes.
4. Add legumes, grits, marjoram, bay leaf and cover everything with vegetable broth.
5. Cook until everything is soft. If the soup is too thick, add a little water.
6. At the end, season the soup with salt, pepper and paprika.
7. Serve garnished with freshly chopped herbs.

Legume soup with vegetables and tomato puree

Are you wondering how the Italian version of the handful soup tastes? Try the version that is especially popular in Tuscany. It is enriched with tomato puree, cloves and cinnamon, which give the soup an intense taste.

Ingredients

• 1 handful of beans
• 1 handful of peas
• 1 handful of lentils
• 1 handful of groats
• 1 stalk of celery
• 1 carrot
• 1 parsley
• 1 onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1500 ml of water
• 1/2 can of tomato puree
• olive oil
• rosemary
• sage
• clove
• cinnamon
• salt pepper

Method

1. Soak legumes with hail overnight in cold water.
2. Chop the celery, carrot, onion and garlic and fry in a pot with olive oil.
3. Add rosemary and sage, mix thoroughly.
4. Then sprinkle in all the pulses and grits and cover everything with the required amount of water.
5. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are soft.
6. Add the tomato puree, cloves, cinnamon, pepper and salt.

Tips and Tricks for Making Handful Soup

Handful soup recipes are often passed down from generation to generation. But don’t be afraid to let your imagination run wild during cooking and add some extra ingredients or, on the contrary, take some away. You will be rewarded with an altered but still familiar taste.

• The name hrstková soup is related to the amount of legumes and cereals that are added to it.
• If you prefer thicker soups, instead of one handful, add two handfuls of legumes and groats.
• One handful usually equals around 50 grams.
• Before soaking, it is worth picking the legumes and grains carefully and removing low-quality grains.
• Soak the pulses and grits overnight in a bowl with a sufficient amount of cold water (the recommended soaking time is approximately 8 hours), thus reducing their bloating effects, removing any harmful substances from them and reducing their cooking time.
• If you also use beans, give preference to smaller types that are cooked for a shorter time.
• In addition to groats, you can also try a handful of soup with oatmeal.
• If you like to experiment with legumes, you can try adding a handful of chickpeas.

All variants of the handful soup taste great especially with fresh pastry or bread. They can be consumed as a separate dish or as a classic soup before the main course.