Slovenian Jota with Sauerkraut, Borlotti Beans, Smoked Pork Ribs and Bay Laurel

Cook the beans: place the drained borlotti beans in a heavy pot with the bay leaves, halved onion, smashed garlic and 1.5 litres of cold water. Bring slowly to a simmer — never a hard boil, which splits skins — and cook 60-75 minutes until the beans are creamy and yield with no resistance. Do not salt during cooking. Discard the onion halves, garlic and bay. Reserve the beans in their cooking liquid.

Ingredients

• For the bean base:
• 250g (1.5 cups) dried borlotti (cranberry) beans, soaked in cold water 12 hours and drained
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• 1 small onion, peeled and halved
• 1 garlic clove, smashed
• 1.5 litres (6 cups) cold water
• For the soup:
• 400g (14 oz) smoked pork ribs (rebrca) — substitute smoked pork hock or thick-cut bacon
• 1 ham bone or small smoked ham hock (optional but transformative)
• 350g (12 oz) cool-fermented sauerkraut (kislo zelje), well drained — substitute mild jarred sauerkraut
• 2 medium waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
• 2 tbsp lard or duck fat (traditional) — substitute olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika
• 1/2 tsp caraway seeds, lightly crushed
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• For the zafrig (Slovenian roux thickener):
• 2 tbsp lard or butter
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
• 1 tbsp sweet paprika
• For finishing:
• Small handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar, to taste
• Crusty Slovenian rye or pumpernickel bread

Instructions

1. Cook the beans: place the drained borlotti beans in a heavy pot with the bay leaves, halved onion, smashed garlic and 1.5 litres of cold water. Bring slowly to a simmer — never a hard boil, which splits skins — and cook 60-75 minutes until the beans are creamy and yield with no resistance. Do not salt during cooking. Discard the onion halves, garlic and bay. Reserve the beans in their cooking liquid.
2. Simmer the smoked pork: while the beans cook, place the smoked ribs and the ham bone (if using) in a separate pot with 1.5 litres of fresh cold water. Bring to a bare simmer and cook 50 minutes until the meat is fork-tender and the broth is smoky and golden. Lift out the ribs, strip the meat from the bones in rough shreds, and reserve. Strain and reserve the smoking broth.
3. Rinse the sauerkraut: place the sauerkraut in a colander and rinse briefly under cold water — Slovenian cooks rinse only lightly so the lacto-fermented sourness is tamed but not erased. Squeeze out excess moisture with your hands and chop coarsely.
4. Build the soffritto: in a heavy soup pot, melt the lard over medium heat. Add the diced onion and a pinch of salt. Sweat 7 minutes until translucent and just turning gold. Add the minced garlic, paprika, caraway, bay leaves and thyme. Toast 60 seconds. Stir in tomato paste and cook 90 seconds until it darkens.
5. Layer the soup: add the chopped sauerkraut to the pot and toss for 2 minutes to coat in the spiced fat. Pour in the strained pork broth and bring to a simmer. Add the cubed potatoes and simmer 15 minutes.
6. Combine: tip in the cooked beans with about a cup of their cooking liquid, the shredded pork rib meat, and any meat picked from the ham bone. Stir gently — borlotti beans break apart easily. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes so the flavors marry. The soup should be brothy, not stewy, at this stage.
7. Make the zafrig (Slovenian roux): in a small heavy skillet, melt the lard over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the roux turns the color of milky tea. Off heat, whisk in the grated garlic and paprika — the residual heat blooms the spice. Ladle in 250ml of the hot soup and whisk until smooth, then scrape the entire zafrig back into the soup. This is the Slovenian step that turns a rustic bean stew into a velvety, mahogany-tinted jota.
8. Simmer and balance: cook for 10 final minutes over very low heat, stirring often to prevent sticking. Taste and season with salt, pepper and red wine vinegar — the vinegar wakes up the sauerkraut. The finished jota should taste smoky, faintly sour, deeply paprika-spiced and warming.
9. Serve: ladle into deep earthenware bowls. Scatter chopped parsley over the top. Slovenian tradition mandates accompanying jota with very thick slices of dark rye bread for soaking, and a glass of cold dry Slovenian Refošk or Teran wine on the side.
10. Jota is the defining peasant lunch of the Karst plateau and the Slovenian-Italian-Croatian border country — sometimes claimed by Trieste, sometimes by Istria, but most aggressively by Slovenia, where every grandmother insists hers is the only true version. The dish dates back to medieval Slavic kitchens of the Inner Carniola region and gets its name from the Italian giotta (broth). The defining trinity of borlotti beans, sauerkraut and smoked pork ribs is non-negotiable — anything else is just a bean soup wearing jota's name. The zafrig roux finish is a uniquely Austro-Hungarian touch that arrived during the Habsburg centuries and never left. UNESCO is currently considering jota for inclusion on Slovenia's list of intangible cultural heritage cuisine.