Ciorbă, Romanian potato soup with semolina dumplings

Ingredients

• 2000 ml water
• 2 medium potatoes (400 g)
• 1 medium yellow onion (150 g)
• 2 spring onions (30 g)
• 1 red bell pepper (150 g)
• 1 green bell pepper (150 g)
• 1 parsnip root (150 g)
• 1 piece of celeriac (150 g)
• 2 medium carrots (160 g)
• 1 small zucchini (200 g)
• 1 sprig dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1000 ml borș de putină
• 100 ml tomato juice
• 1 large egg
• 100 g semolina
• 15 g fresh parsley
• 15 g fresh lovage

Preparation

1. Peel the potatoes, onion, carrots, parsnip and celeriac. Cut the vegetables, bell peppers and zucchini into pieces, and slice the spring onions into rounds. Mix the large egg with the semolina until smooth. 2. Bring 2000 ml of water to a boil. Add all the vegetables and the sprig of dried thyme, and boil for 20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. 3. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of oil. Pour in 1000 ml of borș de putină and 100 ml of tomato juice, then let the soup boil for 2 minutes. 4. Dip a teaspoon into the soup and use it to scoop up small portions of the egg and semolina mixture. Drop them into the pot and boil for 6 minutes, until the dumplings rise to the surface. 5. Turn off the heat and sprinkle over the finely chopped parsley and lovage.