Borscht

The national soup of Ukraine!! woot!

Sure, it’s just becoming spring and very soon we’ll have a wider selection of fresh green vegetables, but right now we still have lots of root vegetables left. And, this stuff is SUPER healthy!

First, some background: The Story of Borshch and Wikipedia on borscht

Borscht can be served hot or cold. However, I would never, ever blend it – doesn’t add anything to the recipe and most importantly too much work.

The recipe I like best is one by Barbara Kafka (of roasting fame). I made a few changes to her recipe – noted below – but in general this recipe is simple and perfect! (It might look like a lot of work, but basically you just throw everything in a big pot.)

Courtesy of: Soup, A Way of Life, by Barbara Kafka

1-ounce (30 g) dried porcini mushrooms
2 T olive oil
1/2 pound crimini mushrooms, trimmed, wiped clean, and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 large onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
10 small or 7 to 8 medium beets, with greens, peeled, quartered, and cut across into 1/4-inch slices
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut across into 1/4-inch rounds
1 medium parsnip, peeled and cut across into 1/4-inch rounds
1 very small or 1/2 large celery root (about 3/4 pound), peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 small white cabbage (about 3/4 pound), cored and shredded
3 large cloves garlic, smashed, peeled, and very finely chopped
3 T tomato paste
1 medium bunch dill, fronds only, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 T kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Coarsely chopped dill
Sour cream (optional)

(This step is very optional)
Soak the dried mushrooms in 1 cup hot water for 15 minutes. Drain, reserving the liquid, and squeeze out the excess liquid. Strain all the soaking liquid through a fine-mesh sieve. Reserve the liquid (there should be 1 cup) and the mushrooms separately.

In a tall narrow stockpot, heat the oil over medium heat. Stir in the fresh mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes. Stir in the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes.

Add the beets, carrots, parsnip, celery root, 8 cups water, and the mushroom soaking liquid. bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the cabbage, garlic, and, if using, the beet greens. Dissolve the tomato paste in 1/2 cup of the liquid and stir back into soup. Return to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the reconstituted mushrooms and simmer for 5 minutes, or until all the vegetables are tender.

Remove from the heat. Stir in the dill, sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper.

My Notes

• The dried mushrooms aren’t necessary, but they do add to the umami taste.
• The mushrooms are very important in this recipe and for sure I’d use crimini instead of just the plain white button ones. They have more nutrients and more umami effect.
• Her original recipe calls for potatoes, but I consider those to be a junk food. (more on that in the future.)
• She calls for 1/4 cup sugar which is totally unnecessary. Sugar is one of the leading causes of health problems and the natural sugar from the beets is plenty, plenty, plenty.
• I reduced her salt by half. 1 T is enough.
• Don’t worry too much about how you chop up the veggies. Just think chunks no bigger than about 3/4 inch and you’ll be fine.
• The tomato paste seems to be very important to this recipe – at least for my taste.
• Enjoying food is about sight as well as taste and smell – make sure to garnish the soup.

Garnish the soup with fresh dill and (optionally) a dollop of sour creme to bring out the beautiful color of the soup. Like this!