Jota Soup on a Winter's Day

Holy Schmoly it's cold out. Imagine living in a pioneer shack on the unsheltered prairie circa 1902. Staying up all night to keep the fire burning or you'd all be frozen by morning. And when you're not stoking the fire, huddling under the feather tick just to keep warm.

Well, if the old wood stove is working on overtime, you might as well have a pot of soup on. I'm sure a fair number of pioneers cooked a version of potato + sauerkraut soup because that's what you had on hand in wintertime. This version is called jota.

I first had jota in the high heat of summer at a mountain refuge in Slovenia, a beautiful little country on the south side of the Alps. I remember thinking, I gotta make this jota at home on a frigid winter day. So here it is...

There are probably as many versions of jota as there are grannies making it, but I like this recipe from the blog:
HomeMadeSlovenianFood with a couple of alterations. For example, the original recipe calls for bacon, which I didn't have in the fridge and it's too darn cold to go get some, so I added a bit of bratwurst instead.

2 tbsp butter or vegetable oil (or a bit of both)
1 big onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, chopped (the original says 5 cloves! you be the judge)
1 tsp smokey paprika
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 head of sauerkraut, chopped*
1 1/2 cups cooked beans
2 cups diced potato
Totally optional: diced bacon or a couple of cooked sausages, sliced

* I use Kissle sauerkraut, it's made in Saskatchewan and found in the produce section of your local grocery store.

1) Cook the potato in salted water. Roughly mash the cooked potato so it's mostly smashed up but a few whole chunks remain. This will thicken the soup.

2) In a soup pot, heat the butter and/or vegetable oil. Cook the onion until soft. If you are using bacon, add it now.

3) Add the garlic, paprika, caraway and pepper. Stir it up well and cook until fragrant.

4) Add sauerkraut, beans and smashed potato to the pot, cover with water and bring to a bubbling simmer.

5) If you are adding sausage do so now.

6) Taste for salt and add some if needed. Sauerkraut is salty so that might be enough for you.

7) Eat hot! Like all soups, this is better on the second day...