Sweden
Sweden, my motherland. Not necessarily known for its amazing food, but we certainly have some dishes which might be interesting to get to know more.
Ärtsoppa (Pea Soup)
One of the most Swedish recipes, according to me, is the yellow pea soup. It is not necessarily famous outside of Sweden, compared to other Swedish dishes such as meatballs, but it is still such a quintessential dish.
Growing up in Sweden, this was one of my favourite dishes as a child. I absolutely loved when my parents made it. It takes quite a while to prepare though, seeing that one has to soak the peas for long. Usually I start soaking them 24 hours in advance and change the water a couple of times in between. Bear in mind that the original recipe contains pork, but I do not eat meat and thus made this recipe vegetarian.
Ingredients
500 grams of dried yellow peas
1-2 tbsp fresh ginger
2 yellow onions
1-2 tsp thyme
1-2 tsp marjoram
1 litre of vegetable bouillon
Salt and pepper to taste
Serve with mustard and carrots for decorations, if you want.
Instructions
Soak the peas for 24 hours and change the water a couple of times during those hours. Proceed to boil them with salted water and remove the foam which come to the surface. Chop the onions and prepare the ginger. Add it to the soup together with the herbs, pepper and bouillon. Boil the peas until they are soft (really soft!). This can take several hours, so please have patience. When the soup taste well, the peas has soften and it has the overall right consistency it is done. Serve together with mustard!
Pyttipanna
Pyttipanna, just like pea soup, was one of my favourite dishes as a child. It is so easy to make (you use what you have at home) and feels so much like home. This dish, just like much of Swedish food, is originally made with meat. Since I do not eat meat, I switched some of the ingredients out.
Ingredients
Potatoes
Vegetarian sausage
Yellow onion
Carrots
Oil
Salt and pepper
Serve with fried egg, pickled beetroot and ketchup.
Instructions
Peel the potatoes and the carrots (and other root vegetables you might want to add). Chop the potatoes, carrots, sausage and onion and either fry them in a pan och in the oven with oil, salt and pepper. I usually prepare this dish in the oven, because it is easier. When everything is cooked properly, fry on egg per plate. Serve the pyttipanna with egg, pickled beetroot and ketchup.
Korvstroganoff
Korvstroganoff is such a typical dish that was served during my childhood. Not only in school, but also at home. Depending on who prepared it, it always tasted different - and my mother's was of course always my favourite. For this challenge, 'Taste the World', I decided to make it.
Ingredients
200-300 grams sausage (I used a plantbased one)
1 yellow onion
2 tbsp tomato puree
0,5-1 tsp mustard
150-200 ml cream (maybe add some milk to make it thinner)
1 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper
Instructions
Chop the onion finely and the sausage into pieces (what size you want is up to you). Fry the onion in the butter until it is transparent. Add the sausage and fry until it gets colour (or until it is properly cooked if you use meat). Add the tomato puree, mustard, and cream. Add salt and pepper to taste. When everything has cooked nicely together, serve with rice and something green (just according to the Swedish 'tallriksmodellen').