Borscht soup (Beet soup)

Hello everyone.

I hope everyone is safe and staying home during this difficult time. (COVID-19 Pandemic)  Try to stay home, cook, bake and do some fun things with your loved ones and stay healthy everybody. This homemade healthy and colourful soup is going to give you strength and comfort.

 Delicious Borscht soup is full of nutrition and vitamins perfect for any day. This soup is common in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. One of the most famous dishes of Ukrainian cuisine. The main ingredient of this soup is beetroot and bone stock. I like to make my beef broth the day before.

So good luck and enjoy my friends.

Ingredients:

• 12 cups of water + 3,4 cups 
• 1 tbsp salt
• beef bones to make a broth
• 300-400 gr thinly sliced beef or lamb
• 2,3 mushrooms
• 2 medium potatoes
• 3 medium beets
• 1 medium thinly sliced red onion 
• 1 small chopped yellow onion
• 2 cups thinly sliced red cabbages (you can mix them with green cabbage)
• 1 stalk celery thinly sliced 
• 1 big carrot thinly sliced
• 3,4 cloves minced garlic
• 1,2 stalk green onion
• salt and peppercorn to taste
• 3 + 2 bay leaves 
• 1 tbsp Vegeta seasoning
• 1 + 1 tbsp olive oil 
• 2 tbsp tomato paste or ketchup
• fresh parsley or cilantro for garnishing
• fresh chopped dill for garnishing
• 1 tbsp butter
• sour cream, if you like

If there is a Euro market near (Ukrainian store, Russian store or Polish store) you ask about these soup seasonings. I like to use it sometimes. You can add 1 or 2 tbsp Borscht seasoning. 

Make a beef broth:

(If you are short on time, I recommend making the stock the night before or even purchasing a good quality broth from a supermarket)

1. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large pot on medium-high heat. Add yellow chopped onions and stir for about a minute. Now add sliced beef and season with salt and pepper. Cook until beef turns brown about 3,4 minutes.  Add 12 cups of water, beef bones and season with more salt, peppercorn and 3 bay leaves. Once the stock is boiling, use a mesh strainer to remove any scum and fat floating on the surface of the stock. Simmer for 1 hour or 1.5 hours until the meat is tender and the stock rich and viscous. Remove bones and add more water (3,4 cups).
2. While simmering the beef stock peel, and cut all the veggies into matchsticks. Keep the sliced potatoes in cold water until you use them. 
3. In your frying pan add 1 tbsp olive oil and butter heat up on medium-high heat.  Add red onion saute for about a minute and add other veggies season with salt, peppercorn and Vegeta seasoning and a pinch of chopped dill. Stir and cook for about 3,4 minutes.
4. Now mixing time. On high heat boil the stock you’ve made before and add sauteed vegetables, also tomato paste. Once all the ingredients have been thrown into the pot, they are left to simmer until they have softened just enough and all of the flavours are well combined. ( Lower the heat and allow to simmer, uncovered, until the veggies are tender, 15-20 minutes. You can add more broth or water if you like)
5. Serve the soup with fresh chopped dill, a spoon of sour cream and some good-quality bread for dipping. The soup will taste even better the next day.

This colourful, tasty and healthy soup is one of our favourites.

Note:

• Use gloves when handling beets or your fingertips will stain red for a couple of days. But I don’t mind. 
• To peel beets, use a simple potato peeler like this one or a kitchen small knife. 
• Slice all the veggies into matchsticks.
• The soup will taste even better the next day. So you can store it in a cool place. 
• I prefer fresh homemade stock but If you are short on time you can use organic store brought broth.