Chef Klaus
Ähzezupp (Kölsche Erbsensuppe)
The Cologne pea pot earns its depth from soaked peas and cured pork bone, simmered slowly until the soup thickens itself and the meat falls clean from the knuckle.
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Schwäbischer Fildereintopf
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Swabia's Filder plateau puts its pointed cabbage to work here: smoke, floury potatoes, and Spätzle in one pot, with Röstzwiebeln over the top because even a weeknight deserves the crunch.
Soups & Stews
German
Weeknight
One Pot
Make Ahead
25 min
Active Time
1 hr 5 min cook•1 hr 30 min total
Yield4 to 6 servings
Fildereintopf belongs to the Filder plateau south of Stuttgart, where the pointed Filderkraut grows sweeter and more tender than the round white cabbage most people throw into a pot. This is market-garden cooking: cabbage from the field, floury potatoes from storage, a piece of smoked pork from the larder, and Spätzle, small Swabian egg noodles, because Swabia will put flour and egg to work before it lets a thin broth stand alone.
Im Norden anders, im Süden anders. The north would lean cabbage toward kale, sausage, or the sharpness of the fish table; the Rhineland would sweeten and sour a pot its own way. Here the argument is Swabian: Filderkraut, Kassler, smoked cured pork, potatoes that soften at the edges, and Röstzwiebeln, fried onions, on top. Das ist kein Bierzelt. It's a weeknight pot that can sit proudly on Sunday if the broth is clean and the onions are dark gold.
The technique is simple and it decides the dish: sweat the cabbage in the pork fat before you add the liquid. Salt pulls water out of the cabbage, the fat carries the smoke and caraway, and the leaves collapse into their own sweet juice. Drown raw cabbage in stock and you get a watery pot with green shreds floating in it. Cook it first and the stew tastes of the field, not the tap.
Keep the Spätzle for the end. They are already cooked, and if you leave them in the pot for half an hour they swell, drink the broth, and turn the whole thing dull. Würzen, Fett, Salz zum Schluss, season, fat, salt at the end: taste after the smoked pork has given up its salt, sharpen with a spoon of vinegar, then the Röstzwiebeln go over. Schön ist, was schmeckt.
Filderkraut is the pointed cabbage of the Filder plateau south of Stuttgart, and written references to its cultivation in the region reach back to the 18th century. The name Filderkraut/Filderspitzkraut was registered by the European Union as a protected geographical indication in 2012, tying the cabbage to the loess soils and market-garden villages that supplied Stuttgart. This Eintopf is the household form of the same larder logic: stored potatoes, smoked pork, and leftover Spätzle stretching fresh cabbage into a full Swabian pot, not a national formula.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
large onions
Quantity
2
thinly sliced, for Röstzwiebeln
plain flour
Quantity
2 tablespoons
lard or rapeseed oil
Quantity
3 tablespoons
divided
smoked streaky bacon or Bauernspeck
Quantity
150g
diced, rind kept if attached
medium onion
Quantity
1
diced
Filderkraut or pointed cabbage
Quantity
1.2kg
cored and cut into 2cm ribbons
floury potatoes
Quantity
700g
peeled and cut into 2cm pieces
Kassler neck or smoked pork shoulder
Quantity
500g
cut into 2cm pieces
light pork stock or water
Quantity
1.2 litres
unsalted if possible
caraway seeds
Quantity
1 teaspoon
lightly crushed
juniper berries
Quantity
4
lightly crushed
bay leaf
Quantity
1
dried marjoram
Quantity
1 teaspoon
cooked Spätzle
Quantity
300g
homemade, fresh, or leftover
apple cider vinegar or mild white wine vinegar
Quantity
1 tablespoon
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
to taste
salt
Quantity
to taste
only after tasting
snipped chives (optional)
Quantity
2 tablespoons
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| large onionsthinly sliced, for Röstzwiebeln | 2 |
| plain flour | 2 tablespoons |
| lard or rapeseed oildivided | 3 tablespoons |
| smoked streaky bacon or Bauernspeckdiced, rind kept if attached | 150g |
| medium oniondiced | 1 |
| Filderkraut or pointed cabbagecored and cut into 2cm ribbons | 1.2kg |
| floury potatoespeeled and cut into 2cm pieces | 700g |
| Kassler neck or smoked pork shouldercut into 2cm pieces | 500g |
| light pork stock or waterunsalted if possible | 1.2 litres |
| caraway seedslightly crushed | 1 teaspoon |
| juniper berrieslightly crushed | 4 |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| dried marjoram | 1 teaspoon |
| cooked Spätzlehomemade, fresh, or leftover | 300g |
| apple cider vinegar or mild white wine vinegar | 1 tablespoon |
| freshly ground black pepper | to taste |
| saltonly after tasting | to taste |
| snipped chives (optional) | 2 tablespoons |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 5 to 6 litre Dutch oven or stew pot
- •Sharp knife or cabbage slicer
- •Slotted spoon
Instructions
- 1
Fry the onions
Toss the sliced onions with the flour only when the pot is ready; flour left sitting on wet onion turns to paste. Heat 2 tablespoons of the lard in a heavy pot over medium heat and fry the onions, stirring often, until deep gold and crisp at the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and leave the fat in the pot, because that onion fat is the first seasoning for the stew.
Do the Röstzwiebeln first in the stew pot. You get the topping done, and the browned onion flavour stays where it belongs, in the pot. - 2
Render the smoke
Add the remaining tablespoon of lard, then the diced Speck and any rind. Let it render gently for 5 to 7 minutes; if you blast cured pork with hard heat, it tightens before the fat has done its work. Add the diced onion and cook until it turns glassy, scraping up the browned flour and onion bits from the bottom. Weggeworfen wird nichts.
- 3
Sweat the cabbage
Stir in the caraway, juniper, cabbage ribbons, and a small pinch of salt, then turn everything through the pork fat. Cover the pot and let the cabbage sweat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring once or twice, until it turns glossy and collapses by a third. This is the step that decides the stew: salt draws the cabbage's own water, fat carries the smoke, and the leaves sweeten before stock can wash them flat.
Filderkraut cooks faster than round white cabbage. If you only have round cabbage, slice it thinner and give it another 5 to 10 minutes before the stock goes in. - 4
Simmer pork and potatoes
Add the potatoes, Kassler, bay leaf, marjoram, and stock, using just enough liquid to come level with the cabbage and potatoes. Bring it to a quiet bubble, then runter mit der Temperatur, down with the temperature, and simmer partly covered for 25 to 30 minutes, until the potatoes are soft at the edges and the pork is cooked through. A hard boil tears the cabbage and tightens the smoked pork; a low simmer lets the floury potatoes thicken the broth by themselves.
Use floury potatoes, the kind that fall apart a little when boiled. Waxy potatoes stay neat, which is nice for salad and wrong for this pot. - 5
Add the Spätzle
Remove the bay leaf and any large piece of rind. Stir in the cooked Spätzle and simmer 3 to 4 minutes, only until they are heated through and still separate. They go in late because they are already cooked; leave them longer and they swell, drink the broth, and make the pot dull. Taste now, then add black pepper, the vinegar, and salt only if the smoked pork has not already done enough.
- 6
Serve with onions
Ladle the stew into deep bowls, making sure every bowl gets cabbage, potato, pork, and Spätzle. Spoon a little of the broth over the top, scatter with the Röstzwiebeln and chives if you're using them, and put the rest of the onions on the table so they stay crisp. Schön ist, was schmeckt.
Chef Tips
- •Buy Filderkraut if you can, or another pointed cabbage if you can't. The head should feel tight and heavy for its size, with pale green leaves and a firm point; a loose head cooks down to threads and tastes tired.
- •Kassler and Speck carry salt differently from butcher to butcher. Don't salt the pot properly until the end, or you'll build a stew that tastes like it came from the cure barrel.
- •Leftover Spätzle are not second-best here. They hold their shape in the stew and make the pot a meal. Nicht aus dem Glas, and not from a packet of soup noodles either.
- •Keep the pork rind in the pot while it simmers if your Speck has one. It gives body to the broth, then comes out before serving. Weggeworfen wird nichts, unless it has already given everything it has.
Advance Preparation
- •Fry the Röstzwiebeln up to 6 hours ahead and keep them uncovered at room temperature. Cover them and they soften, because trapped moisture is the enemy of fried onion.
- •The stew can be made one day ahead through the pork-and-potato simmer. Reheat it gently, then add the Spätzle only before serving so they don't swell overnight.
- •Leftovers keep 2 days in the refrigerator. Add a splash of stock or water when reheating, because the potatoes and Spätzle keep drinking even after the pot is off the stove.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 680g)
Calories
620 calories
Total Fat
31 g
Saturated Fat
11 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
18 g
Cholesterol
100 mg
Sodium
1550 mg
Total Carbohydrates
55 g
Dietary Fiber
10 g
Sugars
11 g
Protein
31 g
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