When I was in Iceland I was obsessed with kjötsúpa, a comforting and filling lamb and root veggie soup that seemed to be served everywhere along with Icelandic butter and bread. So as part of my cooking through the countries in quarantine, I decided to try this for Iceland! I ordered this mix of Icelandic herbs (Villikrydd- go here to order!) for the soup, and I happened to have some salt I had brought back from my trip (you can buy it online- Nordur is the brand I had). I had never cooked with lamb meat before (only ground lamb), and so I really wasn’t sure what to expect.
HOLY MOLY was this out of this world amazing- and the best part is that it tastes EXACTLY like it did in Iceland! How often can you say that you can accurately recreate your favorite dish that you ate in a country from your own kitchen? This soup was easy to make as well, and I already am looking forward to dinners this week! The best part, aside from the delicious broth, is that the lamb literally melts on your tongue it’s so tender! I modified the recipe a little by adding some bone broth I had to use up (I figured a little extra flavor and nutrition couldn’t hurt) and skipping the cabbage since I didn’t have that in Iceland. I added a cup of barley to thicken it up (some recipes use this and others don’t- but this is how I had it most on the trip), but it just took all the broth away overnight and didn’t thicken it at all so I wouldn’t do this again. This will be on repeat this winter!!!
Ingredients:
2 lb lamb shoulder, bone in, cut into bite size pieces and trimmed of fat (save the bones)
8 cups water
2 cups bone broth
1 large leek, sliced
2 tbsp Villikrydd
1 tsp pepper
2 tbsp salt
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 medium rutabaga, chopped into bitesize pieces
1/2 lb Yukon gold potatoes, chopped into bitesize pieces (I left the skin on)
Directions:
1. In a large soup pot, add lamb, bones, water, and broth and bring to a boil.
2. Skim the scum off the top and add in leeks, salt, pepper, and herbs. Simmer partially covered for 45 min.
3. Add in remaining veggies, stir and cook until veggies are soft.
4. Adjust seasonings, then refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to come together.
