Ingredients
Base
- 400 gbrown lentils or yellow split peas
- 200 gsmoked bacon, diced
- 2onions, chopped
- 3carrots, diced
- 1celeriac, diced
- 1leek, sliced
Pot
- 500 gpotatoes, diced
- 2 litresstock
- 2bay leaves
To finish
- 4Frankfurter or Mettwurst sausages, sliced
- 1 tbspvinegar
- salt, black pepper and marjoram
- parsley
Directions
- Render the bacon in a large pot until the fat runs and the pieces have coloured.
- Add the onion, carrot, celeriac and leek and cook for 10 minutes until softened.
- Add the lentils, bay leaves and stock and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Add the potatoes and cook for a further 20 minutes, until everything is completely tender.
- It should be thick enough for a spoon to stand briefly. Eintopf means one pot, and it is a whole meal rather than a soup course.
- Add the sliced sausage for the last 10 minutes only, so it warms through without splitting its skin.
- Season with salt, pepper and marjoram, and then add a tablespoon of vinegar.
- That vinegar at the end is the step most people leave out, and it is what lifts a heavy pot of pulses. Without it the whole thing tastes flat however much salt goes in.
- Scatter with parsley and serve with dark bread.
- It is worth knowing that the one-pot meal was pressed into political service by the Nazi state in the 1930s, when Eintopfsonntag required households to eat cheaply and hand the difference over. The dish itself long predates that and outlived it.
Technique
- It is better the next day and better still the day after, which is part of why it exists.
- Every region has its own: lentil in the south, pea in the north, and green bean along the coast.
- Marjoram rather than thyme. It is the German herb for pulses and the difference is noticeable.
Substitutions
- Vegetable stock and smoked tofu for a vegetarian pot, keeping the vinegar.
- Any smoked sausage in place of Mettwurst.
Variations
- Linseneintopf with lentils, Erbseneintopf with split peas.
- With Kassler, smoked pork loin, simmered in from the start.
- Grünkohleintopf, made with kale, which is the northern winter version.
History
A thick, one-pot stew, combining meat, vegetables and often legumes or grain all cooked together in a single pot, documented across Germany for many generations as one of the country’s most essential and practical everyday dishes, its name meaning literally one pot, directly describing its defining simple, single-vessel preparation. Its practical, all-in-one cooking method historically made eintopf a particularly efficient dish for German households, and the dish carried notable political significance during the 1930s, when the Nazi government promoted a mandatory Sunday eintopf meal as a symbol of national austerity and unity, with the money saved supposedly donated to charity, a practice that has left a complicated historical legacy attached to the otherwise simple dish. Eintopf remains a common everyday dish across German households today.
Frequently asked questions
What is Eintopf?
Eintopf is a soup & stew from Germany: one-pot stew of lentils or peas with sausage. A thick, one-pot stew, combining meat, vegetables and often legumes or grain all cooked together in a single pot, documented across Germany for many generations as one of the country’s most essential and practical everyday dishes, its name meaning literally one pot, directly describing its defining simple, single-vessel preparation. Its practical, all-in-one cooking method historically made eintopf a particularly efficient dish for German households, and the dish carried notable political significance during the 1930s, when the Nazi government promoted a mandatory Sunday eintopf meal as a symbol of national austerity and unity, with the money saved supposedly donated to charity, a practice that has left a complicated historical legacy attached to the otherwise simple dish. Eintopf remains a common everyday dish across German households today.
How long does Eintopf take to make?
Eintopf takes 20 min of preparation and 1 hr 10 min of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Eintopf?
Yes, within limits. Vegetable stock and smoked tofu for a vegetarian pot, keeping the vinegar. Any smoked sausage in place of Mettwurst.
What is the most important thing to get right in Eintopf?
It should be thick enough for a spoon to stand briefly. Eintopf means one pot, and it is a whole meal rather than a soup course.
