Borscht
There are thousands of recipes for borscht, a beet soup: Ukrainian, Polish, Belarusian, Armenian, with beef or pork, cold summer borscht. The soup is a delicate balance of sour and sweet, sweetness given by the beets and sour achieved through sauerkraut, tomatoes or tomato paste, lemon juice or vinegar.
New Yorker ran an amazing article about borscht a couple of years ago by Olia Hercules. The story has everything you’ve ever wanted to know about it.
This recipe is a vegetarian version that my mom developed for those who prefer to eat less meat.
For the borscht
2 quarts water or stock
2 bay leaves
6 black peppercorns
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium beets, peeled and grated on a coarse grater
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 1/2 teaspoon table salt, divided
1 medium carrot, diced
2 medium potatoes, diced
1/3 small red cabbage, finely shredded
1 small bunch of scallions, chopped
freshly ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
To serve
1/3 bunch of dill, chopped
sour cream
rye bread
Bring to boil 2 quarts of water or stock in a big pot. Add the bay leaves and black peppercorns.
Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the onion and cook for a few minutes, stirring from time to time, until translucent. Add the beets, tomato paste and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and stir well to combine. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and stew for about 20 minutes stirring once or twice until the beets soften.
In the meanwhile, the pot should come to boil. Add the carrot, potatoes and cabbage to the pot, cover and leave to simmer for about 10 minutes until the potatoes are soft.
Once the beets are soft, add them to the pot too. Add the scallions, 1 teaspoon of salt, freshly ground black pepper and garlic. Increase the heat to high to return the soup to a boil. As soon as the borscht comes to boil, turn off the heat.
It’s very important not to overboil the soup or it will loose the beautiful beet color and a big part of its taste! (I did it when testing the recipe for the first time and had to call my mom for instructions.) Another borscht mistake to avoid is to add water in the end if the soup seems too thick. Although most soups would be fine with such correction, borscht will be ruined.
Cover the soup, put a tea towel on top of the lid and leave for 1-2 hours to give time for all the flavors to combine. Serve with sour cream, dill and a slice of rye bread.
You can also eat it right away but borscht definitely gets better with time. It’s the best the day after and will keep for 3-4 days in the fridge becoming even tastier. It also freezes well and is delicious puréed with a blender.
Serves 8 as a main dish.
