Jota with Smoked Sausage

Sauerkraut is one of those ingredients I buy once a year for sausages and then watch sit in the fridge; jota makes it the star, and I want to find out whether a long simmer really turns its sharpness into something rounder and almost sweet, the way Slovenian cooks say it does. The dish is also honest peasant food from a place most Americans could not find on a map, built on three cheap pantry items, and it leans toward the pork and beans our collection is short on. Nothing here is hard: it is a chop-and-simmer dinner that rewards patience more than skill, and if the sausage is left out it is a very good vegetarian stew.

• Sauerkraut: Buy the refrigerated kind in a bag or jar (Bubbies, Claussen, or a Polish or German brand) rather than canned; it has a cleaner, less metallic sourness. Rinse it briefly if you prefer a milder stew.
• Smoked pork sausage: Kranjska klobasa is a coarse, garlicky, smoked pork sausage. A good Polish-style smoked kielbasa is the nearest supermarket match; some Slovenian or Austrian delis in Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Chicago sell the real thing.
• White beans: Cannellini or great northern beans from a can are fine. Traditional recipes soak dried beans overnight; if you have time, 1 cup dried beans cooked ahead gives a creamier stew.
• Bay leaf and garlic: The seasoning is minimal; these two, plus black pepper, do most of the work.

1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into 3/4-inch dice; keep them in cold water until needed.
2. Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Chop the bacon if using.
3. Drain the sauerkraut, reserving 1/4 cup of its liquid. Taste a strand: if it is very sharp, rinse it in a sieve under cold water for a few seconds.
4. Drain and rinse one can of beans. Leave the second can undrained for now; its starchy liquid helps thicken the pot.
5. Slice the sausage into 1/2-inch rounds.

1. Warm the olive oil in the Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the bacon, if using, and cook until it renders, then add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook 6–8 minutes until soft and lightly golden. Add the garlic and paprika and stir for 30 seconds.
2. Add the drained potatoes, the sauerkraut, the bay leaves, the broth and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer, cover partially and cook 20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
3. Add both cans of beans (one drained, one with its liquid) and the sausage. Simmer, uncovered, another 12–15 minutes, stirring now and then and crushing a few potato pieces against the side of the pot so the stew thickens.
4. Taste for salt; the sauerkraut and sausage carry a lot, so it may need very little. Add a splash of the reserved sauerkraut liquid if the stew has gone flat, or more water if it is too thick to ladle. Finish with a generous grind of black pepper.
5. Let it sit off the heat for 5 minutes; jota thickens as it rests.

Ladle into deep bowls with a few sausage rounds on top of each and a little chopped parsley, and put the bread and a pepper mill on the table. The stew is not hot-spiced at all, so the only adjustment for a child is the sourness: I'll serve my son's bowl with extra potato and sausage and a bit less kraut, and he can decide whether the tangy broth is a yes. For a vegetarian version, leave out the sausage and bacon, use vegetable broth and raise the paprika to 2 teaspoons, choosing smoked paprika for depth. Leftovers keep four days and, like every bean stew, are better on day two; thin with water when reheating.