For this date night, we travelled to Slovakia, a country known for hearty, comforting food packed with rich, smoky flavours. Our menu featured three traditional dishes: kapustnica, a deeply savoury sauerkraut soup, bryndzové halušky, Slovakia’s beloved potato dumplings with sheep’s cheese, and makovník, a poppy seed roll for dessert.
Kapustnica (Slovak Sauerkraut Soup)
Kapustnica is one of Slovakia’s most iconic dishes, especially around Christmas. It’s smoky, tangy, rich, and incredibly comforting, with sausage, pork, sauerkraut, and mushrooms all bringing layers of flavour.
Ingredients
1 smoked sausage (I used Mattessons), sliced
300g pork shoulder steak, chopped
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon oil
2 teaspoon sweet paprika
20g dried porcini mushrooms
250g sauerkraut + 2 tablespoon sauerkraut liquid
1L chicken stock
2 bay leaves
Black pepper
3 tablespoon sauerkraut juice
Method
Start by soaking the dried porcini mushrooms in 200ml hot water for around 15–20 minutes until softened. Don’t throw away the soaking liquid, as it adds amazing flavour to the soup.
Heat a large pot over medium heat and add the sliced sausage. Cook for 4–5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until caramelised and slightly crispy around the edges. Remove and set aside, leaving the rendered fat in the pan.
Add the chopped pork shoulder to the pot, using the sausage fat plus a little oil if needed. Cook for 5–7 minutes until nicely browned with good colour. Remove and set aside.
Add the diced onion and cook for 6–8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly golden.
Stir in the garlic and sweet paprika, cooking for about 30 seconds until fragrant.
Add the sauerkraut, the soaked porcini mushrooms along with their soaking liquid, chicken stock, bay leaves, cooked sausage, browned pork, black pepper, and the sauerkraut juice.
Bring everything to a gentle simmer, then cook uncovered for 40–50 minutes, allowing the flavours to meld and the pork to become tender. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
The finished soup should be smoky, savoury, slightly tangy, and deeply comforting.
Bryndzové Halušky
Often considered Slovakia’s national dish, bryndzové halušky are tiny potato dumplings coated in creamy sheep’s cheese and topped with smoky bacon. Think of them as rustic little dumplings somewhere between gnocchi and spaetzle.
Ingredients
2 potatoes, peeled and grated (ideally with the thin side of the grater, if not grate with the larger part and chop up small)
100g flour
1 egg
Bryndza cheese (use however much you need for this amount)
Smoked bacon
Chives
Black pepper
Method
Grate the potatoes into a bowl, then add the flour and egg. Mix until you have a thick, wet dough.
Cook the bacon in a frying pan until crisp, then chop into small pieces. Finely chop the chives and set both aside.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Traditionally, Slovakians use a haluškár (a halušky maker), which is a perforated board designed specifically for making these dumplings. A colander with medium holes works too.
Add half of the dough to the colander or haluškár and scrape it through the holes using a spatula or spoon so small dumplings drop directly into the boiling water. Repeat with the remaining dough, working fairly quickly.
Once the dumplings float to the surface, cook for 1–2 more minutes. Total cooking time is usually around 3–4 minutes.
Drain well, then return the dumplings to the pot while still hot. Add the bryndza cheese and stir until the dumplings are fully coated in a creamy sauce.
Serve topped with black pepper, crispy bacon, and fresh chives.
Makovník
For dessert, I attempted makovník, a traditional Slovak poppy seed roll.
I’ll be honest, my version didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped, so I’d recommend finding a more traditional recipe if you want to make this one yourself. But I still loved trying it as part of the experience.
Slovak food surprised me in the best way. Everything felt rustic, hearty, and designed to comfort. The smoky sausage, tangy sauerkraut, creamy dumplings, and rich flavours made this one of the cosiest date nights yet.
