Instructions: In a 5 to 6 quart pan, cook bacon over medium heat until lightly browned. Spoon off and discard all but about 1 tablespoon of the drippings.

Add onions to pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft (about 10 minutes). Stir in potatoes, carrots, parsley, dill weed, marjoram, and pepper. Add stock to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat, cover and simmer until potatoes mash easily (about 30 minutes).

Puree half the soup.

Add green beans and sausage to the soup. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender (about 15 minutes). Skim and discard fat from soup. Serve hot with dark or rye bread.

2001-11-30 TEST: Halved the recipe; Used fresh parsley. Substituted dried herbs. Instead of softening the onion in the bacon, I let it lightly browned. Soup did not have much flavor. Corrected by doubling the herbs. So appearance was greener than planned. Fair flavor; comforting. Room for improvement. Suggest using a roasted vegetable stock instead of chicken. The standard 3 to 1 fresh to dry herb replacement was too mild. Serve 1 1/2 cup portions if main dish.

Leftover: We had two cups leftover. Saute equal amounts of diced onion, carrot and celery with a garlic clove and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Add 1 cup broth and simmer to soften carrot. Add the left over soup, a 14 ounce can cannellini beans, 1 cup water or more to thin the soup. Seasoning: a pinch of a curry, cumin orange peel blend; a pinch of a commercial blend of French herbs.

Yield: 8 cups
Start to Finish Time:
"1:10"

NOTES : Basic to German family cooking is the Eintopf - a one-dish meal of simmered meat and vegetables. Heres one such robust dish - a sturdy green bean and wurst soup from Southern Germanys Moselle (Mosel) Valley.

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