Beef Soup: Nourishing Swedish Köttsoppa

Colder months call for warm energizing food and this Swedish beef soup with “dumplings” (Köttsoppa med klimp) is often served to both warm the body and sooth the soul.

This classic beef soup takes you back to your childhood and winter-break meals served at your grandma’s.

Ingredients

• 500g beef (chuck)
• 100g onion
• 10 white peppercorns
• 3 bay leaves
• 50g celery root
• 100g parsnip
• 80g parsley root
• 60g leek
• 250 g carrots
• 3 tbs flour
• 3 tbs butter
• 5dl milk
• 4-5 almonds
• 2 egg yolks
• handful of parsley
• salt, pepper

Instructions

The “klimp” dumpling

1. Melt the butter in a souce pan over medium heat. Add the flour and mix constantly until it is desolved.
2. Add the milk and continue mixing until you reach a paste-like consistency.
3. Grate almonds with a microplane grater and add to the pot along with a tablespoon of finely chopped parsley. Season with pepper and salt.
4. Finally, add 2 egg yolks and mix to combine.
5. Pour the mixture into a bowl rinsed with water and let it harden in the fridge for at least one hour. Invert it on the plate before serving the beef soup.

The soup

1. Place the beef into a large pot and cover with 2l of water. Bring to boil and let it cook. Skim the fatty foam forming on the surface with a spoon.
2. Peal the onion and one medium carrot, and chop them coarsely
3. Once all of the foam is removed, add the onion, carrot, peppercorns, 1 tsp of salt and bay leaves, stir, cover, lower the heat to medium low, and let it cook for one hour and a half.
4. While the meat cooks, peal remaining carrots, celery root, parsnip, and parsley root, and cut into 0.5cm cubes. Slice the leek.
5. When the meet is done cooking, remove everything from the pot leaving only the broth. Add cut veggies and stir.
6. Cut the cooked beef into 1cm cubes, add to the pot and cook on medium heat for 30min.
7. Add pepper and salt to taste, add chopped parsley to your liking, stir.
8. Serve the beef soup by placing a spoonful of klimp in a plate and pouring hot soup over it.

Bonus Tips for Swedish Beef Soup (Köttsoppa)

• The “klimp” can be seasoned in other ways as well, for example adding grated nutmeg or bitter almonds.
• Instead of beef one can use moose meat, which is quite typical in the northern part of Sweden.
• Enjoy it with a crispy knäckebröd (or fröbröd) with some cheese on top.