Hot dog soup, Finnish comfort food for a sick boy. Makkarakeitto/Korvsoppa

My youngest is sick, typical winter cold that the kids have so often.  With his sore throat, soup is the only thing he wants to eat, so yesterday I made him some hot dog (or sausage if you want to translate directly) soup.  This is everyday food in Finland, something my sister-in-law says that she makes on busy working days on the farm.  It is a comforting and tasty soup that children (and their parents!) really enjoy.

If I were in Finland, I would just buy a bag of frozen mixed root vegetables, but now I had to spend a little time peeling and chopping.  I used a rutabaga, 6 small potatoes, and 4 carrots.  A leek would have been good but I didn't have one.  I tried to chop everything into about the same-size pieces so they would cook evenly.

I covered these vegetables with about 8 cups of water and brought them to a boil in a large covered saucepan.  I added 3 cubes of Knorr beef boullion, Knorr cubes make twice as much broth as most other brands.  This is the brand I usually use when in Finland, it is usually in the Mexican food section of the stores in our area, or you can order it from Amazon.  

While the vegetables cook, cut up the hot dogs into small pieces.  I used two packages (12 hot dogs) because the kids were really hungry.  You can use less if you like.

When the vegetables were completely soft, I turned off the heat and added the hot dogs.  Don't cook the soup anymore after the hot dogs are added.  

You can add salt or pepper to season, or just serve as is, like we did.  Enjoy!