Brennsuppe

Name: Brennsuppe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Alpine Italian
Ingredients: 60 g Unsalted butter; 60 g Plain flour; 1 tsp whole caraway seeds; 1000 ml vegetable broth; 200 ml Whole milk; 1 tsp Fine sea salt; 0.25 tsp freshly ground black pepper; 160 g stale south tyrolean rye bread; 2 tbsp Fresh chives

Brennsuppe, known in Italian as zuppa di farina abbrustolita, is a traditional South Tyrolean roasted-flour soup infused with caraway seeds and served over dark rye bread.

🇮🇹Italy· Trentino-Alto Adige

Prep: 10 min
Cook: 25 min
Total: 35 min
Servings: 4
Difficulty: Easy
Calories: 320 kcal

Ingredients

0 of 9 gathered

Servings

60 g Unsalted butter — or traditional clarified butter
60 g Plain flour — wheat flour
1 tsp whole caraway seeds — Kümmel
1000 ml vegetable broth — or light beef stock, hot
200 ml Whole milk — warm
1 tsp Fine sea salt — to taste
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper — to taste
160 g stale south tyrolean rye bread — cut into bite-sized cubes
2 tbsp Fresh chives — finely snipped

Equipment

•Heavy-bottomed saucepan
•Whisk
•Wooden spoon
•Bread knife
•Ladle
•Soup bowls

Nutrition

Per serving, approximate

Calories: 320 kcal
fat: 14 g
carbs: 41 g
fibre: 4 g
protein: 9 g
calories: 320 kcal

Instructions

1
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat.
2
Add the plain flour and caraway seeds to the melted butter.
3
Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the flour turns a rich, nutty hazelnut brown.
4
Pour in the hot broth in a steady stream, whisking vigorously to avoid any lumps.
5
Whisk in the warm milk until the soup is completely smooth.
6
Bring the soup to a gentle simmer over low heat.
7
Cook gently for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened and silky.
8
Season the soup with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
9
Divide the stale rye bread cubes evenly among four warm soup bowls.
10
Ladle the piping hot soup directly over the bread and scatter with snipped chives.

Chef's tips

Brown the flour slowly over gentle heat; if the heat is too high, the flour will burn and turn bitter rather than nutty. Whisking continuously while adding hot liquid ensures a completely smooth, velvety soup without flour clumps.

Ingredient substitutions

South Tyrolean rye bread → any dense, crusty sourdough rye bread or broken pieces of crispy Schüttelbrot
unsalted butter → traditional pork lard for a classic, robust farmhouse flavour

Storage

Store leftover soup without bread in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two days.

Reheating

Reheat gently in a saucepan over medium-low heat, whisking in a splash of water if it has thickened.

Common mistakes to avoid

•Rushing the browning step over high heat, which scorches the flour and ruins the delicate nutty base.
•Adding cold liquid to the hot roux, causing stubborn lumps to form in the broth.

Serving suggestions

Serve immediately while the hot broth softens the dense rye bread beneath.Pair with a glass of cool mountain water or a light South Tyrolean Vernatsch red wine.