Russian solyanka

From Wikipedia
Solyanka (Russian, Ukrainian: соля́нка; [sɐlˈjankə]) is a thick, spicy and sour soup in Russian and Ukrainian cuisine.
There are three basic types of solyanka, with the main ingredient being either meat, fish, or mushrooms. All of them contain pickled cucumbers with brine, and often cabbage, salted mushrooms, smetana (sour cream), and dill. The soup is prepared by cooking the cucumbers with brine before adding the other ingredients to the broth.


Okay Wikipedia is confusing me. Solyanka in our family is not a soup. Yes, it's thick but I woudn't call it soup. My mom has her own recipe and I love it. No cucumbers! She taught me how to cook it. So this recipe is 90% hers (I changed some things)
You will need.

• 1 lb smocked sausage (you can use any meat - chicken, lamb, stewing beef etc. Last time I made it I used leftovers beef roast and some pepperoni )

• 1 carrot
• 1 onion
• 3 potatoes
• 1 head of cabbage
• 1 tomato
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce/puree
• salt and pepper to taste  

Directions

Cut, peel and rinse all veggies. In one frying pan mix meat, carrot, tomato,onion add some oil and saute  10-15 minutes. In separate frying pan - cabbage and saute it until it shrinks. Add 1/2 cup of tomato sauce/puree. So you will have 2 frying pans with ready to go stuff.

Boil your potatoes (bite pieces) until it's ready. Don't add too much water or you will get a soup.  When it's ready add your 2 frying pans of cabbage and veggies+meat. Add salt and pepper. Mix well. Let it boil 15 minutes. And it's ready! You can add mushrooms (optional)[

My husband doesn't like vegetables.  So I was concern about his reaction on this dish. He said it's otlichno (means great) And I liked it so much I (ahem) just had it for breakfast. :-)                                                                                

Sautéed cabbage (before I added tomato sauce)

Solyanka is almost ready (before I added cabbage)