Veal Soup: Rich Serbian Teleća Čorba

Teleća čorba (Veal soup) is one of Serbian traditional soups adored all over the land, as well as in the surrounding Balkan countries.

Light, yet very rich and flavorful from the veal, it is always a perfect fist course for a Sunday lunch.

Ingredients

• 250g onion
• 80g celery root
• 150g parsnip
• 100g potatoes
• 250g carrots
• 500g veal
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tbs sour cream or greek yogurt
• handful of parsley
• 4-5 tbs vegetable oil
• 2 tbs flour
• salt
• pepper

Instructions

1. Peal the onion and chop it finely.
2. Cut the veal into 1cm cubes.
3. Heat the oil in the pot, add chopped onion, and fry it until it becomes golden.
4. Add the meat and fry, stirring constantly, until it is brown all over.
5. Pour water just enough to cover the meat. Add a generous pinch of salt, lower the heat to medium low, cover, and cook for 45 minutes.
6. In the meantime, peal the potatoes, carrots, parsnip and celery root, and cut into 0.5cm cubes. Add veggies to the pot and stir to combine.
7. Pour 1.5 liters of water to the pot, stir, and cook on medium heat for 30min.
8. Take 50ml of liquid from the pot and mix in 2 tbs of flour making sure that no lumps remain. Mix it back in the pot.
9. Whisk the egg yolk with the sour cream (or yogurt). Mix it slowly into the soup stirring constantly.
10. Add pepper and salt to taste, add chopped parsley to your liking, stir and serve.

Bonus Tips for Teleća Čorba (Veal Soup)

• You must surely have a home made bread on the side, e.g. like these lepinje “buns” traditional for Serbia and surrounding countries.
• A spoon of sour cream served with the veal soup goes a long way.