How to cook borscht – recipe
The east European favorite is a great soup to have in your repertoire
How to cook borscht – recipe
2 Prep the veg
Peel the onion and carrot, and wash the celery and leek thoroughly. Thinly slice the onion. If using raw beetroot, peel it and cut roughly three-quarters of it into small dice, setting the remainder aside for now; if using cooked, dice and set aside for now. Cut the carrot and celery into smallish dice and thinly slice the leek.
3 Start on the base
Melt the butter in a large pan over a medium-low heat, then fry the onion until fairly soft and translucent. Add the carrot, leek, celery, raw diced beetroot (if using), allspice berries and bay leaf, and stir to coat in the melted butter. Cook for 10 minutes, adding a little stock if the vegetables begin to look dry.
4 Stock questions
On the subject of stock, borscht is most commonly made with beef stock, preferably the good, gelatinous sort, which will give the soup real richness and body. However, if you don’t eat beef, chicken or vegetable stocks will also be delicious; if using the latter, I’d recommend soaking some dried mushrooms in it first to give it more flavour.
5 Add the spuds and stock
Meanwhile, wash and peel the potatoes and cut them into small dice. Add them and all the stock to the pan, bring the whole lot to a merry simmer, then turn the heat down to medium low and leave the soup to bubble away gently for 15 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.
6 Finish cooking the vegetables
Wash and finely shred the cabbage (you can use any sort you like, or indeed kale or similar; I like to use a white cabbage for its satisfyingly robust texture), peel and crush the garlic, and coarsely grate the remaining raw beetroot, if using. Stir all these vegetables into the pan and cook until everything is tender, particularly the potatoes, which should take about another 10 minutes.
Recipe: – read full description here >>
Prep 20 min
Cook 45 min
Serves 4
300g beetroot (see step 1)
1 small onion
1 small carrot
1 stick celery
1 small leek
50g butter
2 whole allspice berries
½ bay leaf
1.5 liters gelatinous beef stock (see step 4), or chicken or vegetable stock
2 medium potatoes, preferably waxy (eg, charlotte or maris peer)
½ small cabbage, shredded
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp ground black pepper
Salt|
Soured cream and fresh dill, to serve (preferably Polish soured cream, which has a richer flavor)
How to cook borscht – recipe
- 6L of water and 6 pieces of meat (говяжья грудинка с салом)
- cook 1.5 hour with 2 onions and 1 carrot (after the water boiled)
- then prepare vegetables to fry (3 medium onions, 3 beets and 1 big carrot)
- cut half of medium cabbage
- 4 small potatoes
