Easiest Soup I've Made - Sauerkraut & Sausage

I found this recipe in a little book I bought at Cost Plus - World Market. The book is titled "1 Stock, 100 Soups". It was written in the UK so the measures and some terminology are quirky but there are quite a few good soups. The one stock is vegetable and all 100 soups are based on it. The recipe for the vegetable stock has an extensive list of ingredients and yields 4 cups. For the Sauerkraut & Sausage soup I used a boxed vegetable stock to save some time but look forward to making the vegetable stock soon.

I made this soup for Bertie and Tommy a few weeks ago and it was really good. I ate sauerkraut quite a bit growing up because of my Mom's German heritage. I always ate it but wasn't a huge fan so I was surprised at how much I liked this soup. My wife, Bertie, also loved the soup which was surprising because she had never had sauerkraut before so I was encouraged about the soup's potential for popularity. Last week I ran a poll for what soup to make and I included this soup in the list of candidates. Surprisingly this soup finished second in the polling. With that vote of confidence I decided to bring it in this week.

This makes 6 servings

INGREDIENTS
32 ounces of sauerkraut, drained
1 pound of kielbasa or other cooked sausages, sliced into 1/2 inch to 1 inch pieces
2 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon of flour
1 tablespoon of paprika
1 quart of vegetable stock, more if you prefer to thin the soup
2/3 cup of sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

1. Melt the butter in a large pan over low heat
2. Add the flour and paprika and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes
3. Turn off the heat
4. Gradually stir in the vegetable stock a little at a time until fully incorporated and the mixture is smooth
5. Bring the flour and stock mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly
6. Add the drained sauerkraut and sausage pieces
7. Season with salt and pepper to taste
8. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer low for 30 minutes
9. Remove the pan from the heat and mix in the sour cream right before serving