Smoked Ham and Lettuce Soup

Even if it's possible to replace the meat stock with water, I still recommend boiling it quickly, the soup will be much better.

I do like this - I place 2-3 chicken legs in a pot (then I use them to make chicken with sour cream), some celery, parsnip, 1 onion and 1 carrot. Pour about 2-3 liters of water to cover the meat and vegetables well.

When it comes to the boil, skim off the foam, add a bay leaf, make a low heat and simmer for about 1 hour. If it's country chicken, boil until it's ready.

I didn't count the vegetables for the broth in the list of ingredients, add them or not, depending on whether you do this step.

After this time, remove the meat and the vegetables from the soup. I set aside the meat and cook the chicken with sour cream the next day.

I discard the vegetables, they've released their flavours in the soup.

If the soup is ready or it's simmering, we can prepare the rest of the ingredients.

In a bowl, beat well with a fork 3 eggs, a little salt and 1 egg white (we will mix the yolk with the cream at the end and we will thicken the soup).

Heat well a little oil or butter in a pan and use a ladle to pour the egg mixture in it. Make 2-3 thin omelets, brown them well on both sides (turn easily with a spatula).

Then cut these pancakes into thin slices, set aside for the time being.

Now let's deal with the smoked meat.

Cut it into thin slices and place in a hot pan. If the ham is fatty, don't add oil, it will release enough fat. If it's more meaty, put a few tablespoons of oil in the pan.

Cook for about 10 minutes, then add the finely chopped onions, mix and leave over heat for another 5 minutes.

Now add the chopped garlic, stir, cook for 2 minutes and turn off the heat.

In the pan with the soup, add the lettuce (washed leaf by leaf and cut into small pieces), the omelette and the smoked meat cooked in the pan.

Bring the pot to the boil. When it comes to the boil, turn the heat to low and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Now mix a raw yolk with the sour cream.

Into this mixture, pour about 2-3 ladles of hot soup, one at a time, mix well.

Pour the sour cream mixture back into the pot, add salt to taste, apple cider vinegar and finely chopped greens (I used dill and green onions).

Leave over heat just until it starts to boil, don't let boil intensely!

So, as the soup comes to the boil, turn off the heat, put a lid on and let infuse for 15-30 minutes.

Serve with a hot pepper according to your preferences and with great appetite. We finished it too quickly...

Enjoy!