Kjötsúpa (Icelandic Lamb and Root Vegetable Soup) 🐑

Name: Kjötsúpa (Icelandic Lamb and Root Vegetable Soup)
Prep time: 72 min
Cook time: 108 min
Total time: 180 min
Yield: 2-4 servings
Cuisine: Icelandic
Ingredients: 500 g lamb shoulder or neck on the bone; 1.8 L cold water; 1 small swede (rutabaga), cubed; 2 carrots, sliced; 1 turnip, cubed (optional, traditional); 3 medium potatoes, cubed; 3 tbsp pearl barley, rinsed; 1 onion, halved; Salt and black pepper; Finish: fresh lovage or flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Kjötsúpa is the soup Icelanders reach for when the wind comes off the harbour sideways: lamb on the bone simmered patiently with swede, carrot, potato and pearl barley until the broth turns glossy and the meat falls apart at the look of a spoon. Farmhouse versions add a turnip for extra bite and a fistful of chopped lovage or parsley at the end. Every café in Reykjavik has a pot of it behind the counter, and every family swears theirs is the only correct one.

Capital Region Icelandic ⏱ 180 min Easy

Method

1

Cover the lamb with cold water in a deep pot, bring slowly to a simmer and skim the grey froth as it rises — a patient skim is the whole secret of a clear Icelandic broth.
2

Add the halved onion and pearl barley, then simmer gently, partly covered, for about an hour until the lamb is nearly tender.
3

Lift out the meat, strip it from the bone and chop it back into bite-size pieces; return it to the pot with the swede, carrots and turnip. Cook 20 minutes, then add the potatoes and simmer until everything is soft, 15–20 minutes more.
4

Season well with salt and pepper; the soup should taste robust enough to stand up to a headwind.
5

Ladle into bowls with a chunk of lamb in each and a shower of chopped lovage or parsley. Serve with rúgbrauð, the sweet dark Icelandic rye bread, buttered.

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Kjötsúpa (Icelandic Lamb and Root Vegetable Soup) 🐑

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