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Bulgarian Tarhana Soup
Bulgarian Tarhana Soup is a traditional Bulgarian recipe for a classic quick soup made with tarhana or soured dough pasta flavoured with tomato sauce cooked in meat stock. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Bulgarian version of: Bulgarian Tarhana Soup.
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
20 minutes
Total Time:
40 minutes
Serves:
4–6
Rating: 
Tags : Bulgaria Recipes
Tarhana is a classic ground pasta, similar in essence to couscous that the Turkish Ottoman Empire brought to Greece, the Balkans and Eastern Europe. The recipe below comes from Bulgaria and is for the tarhana itself and a soup incorporating it.
Ingredients:
For the Tarhana:
5 eggs
1kg wheat flour
1 tsp active, dried yeast
tomato sauce (made with buttermilk), to bind
For the Soup:
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp plain flour
2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
1.5l meat stock (with meat pieces)
800g prepared tarhana
salt, freshly-ground black pepper and paprika, to taste
Method:
The tarhana needs to be made at least 4 days in advance, as it needs this time ferment (it's this process that makes it keep). Combine the flour, eggs and yeast in a bowl then add just enough tomato sauce to bring the mixture together as a hard dough. Bring together as a ball, cover the bowl and set aside to rest for 4 days (each day knead the mixture to make certain there's enough air for the yeast to do its magic).
At the end of this time press the dough through a meat grinder to form the tarhana (dough crumbs). Typically the crumbs are turned into a cotton bag and are hung in a cool, airy, spot to dry.
Once you have your tarhana you can begin on the soup.
Melt the butter in a pan then stir-in the flour to form a smooth roux. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes before gradually adding the meat stock, whisking to combine. Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer then stir-in the tarhana and cook for about 10 minutes, or until soft. Season to taste with salt, freshly-ground black pepper and paprika then ladle into warmed soup bowls and serve.
