Russian Borscht

It's feeling cold and wintry already! Nothing like a nice hot bowl of soup to warm the body up on a cold night. So be ready to see soup being featured more than once!!

This round I'll be sharing with you another one of my favourite soup recipe - The Russian Borscht. Yes, I'm a soup-person, in case you haven't realised it yet! :)

This soup was apparently a poor man's feast (if my brother is to be trusted). Beetroot is the main ingredient here, and imparts a deep red colouring to the soup. Very pretty to say the least! :) For a vegetarian version of this recipe, see the note below.

Russian Borscht

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 carrots, peeled and grated
• 4 cups of green cabbage, shredded
• 4-5 beetroot, peeled and grated
• 1 stick of celery, diced
• 2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 185g of tomato paste
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 450g beef cubes
• 1L of beef stock (I used reduced salt ones)
• About 800ml of water
• 3 bay leaves
• A handful of peppercorns
• 1t of paprika (I used hot paprika)
• 1T of lemon juice
• Salt to taste
• A dash of pepper
• Sour cream to serve

Method:

1. Add the olive oil to heated pot and saute the garlic and onions.
2. When the onions is softened, add the peppercorns and bay leaves. Add in the beef cubes.
3. When the beef is cooked, add in the carrots.
4. Stir in the beetroot, cabbage and celery to the mixture and saute.
5. Follow with potatoes and the tomato paste and the broth.
6. Bring these to a boil and then simmer on low heat for 20mins.
7. Add the paprika and lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste.
8. Leave the soup to sit for several hours or overnight.
9. Serve with the sour cream.

Note: A vegetarian version of this soup can be made by omitting the beef cubes, and substituting the beef stock and water with 2L of vegetable stock instead. I have made this variation before, and the soup is still very yummy. :)