Great Plain Outlaw Soup

Outlaw soup ("betyárleves") is a hearty Hungarian soup that stands up as a one-pot meal: smoky bacon, plenty of vegetables, mushrooms and tender pork give it its rich flavour. Do not be daunted by the long list of ingredients – the steps are simple, it just needs a little time.

1. Cut 150 g of bacon into small cubes, and in a large pot, in 2 tablespoons of lard, over a low heat render it until its fat cooks out and the cubes brown.

2. Throw in the finely chopped onion and fry it glassy, then light golden, in the fat.

3. Add 600 g of diced pork shoulder, and fry it, stirring, until the meat turns white all over and takes on a little colour.

4. Turn the heat down, stir in 2 crushed garlic cloves and 2 teaspoons of paprika. Fry the paprika only for a few seconds, so it does not turn bitter.

5. Add the sliced carrot and parsley root, the diced potato, the sliced button mushrooms, the strips of tomato pepper and the diced tomato.

6. Pour in 2 litres of water, salt and pepper it to taste, and add 1 teaspoon of marjoram. Bring it to the boil, then cook it under a lid over a low heat for about an hour and a half, until the meat and vegetables soften.

7. At the end taste it, adjust with salt and pepper, and serve with fresh bread.

Tip: A little hot paprika makes it even more characterful. If you reheat it the next day, the flavours come together even more.