Description
A rich and flavorful borscht recipe, perfect for a chilly evening. Discover the history and secrets to making this classic soup.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 3 lbs (1361 g) soup bones, knuckle bones, neck bones, or breast bones
- 2-3 lbs (907-1361 g) inexpensive roast, shoulder meat, etc, of substitute both bones and meat with a whole duck, chicken or goose, cut into manageable chunks. Skin and bones are a must on the poultry.
- 1 large onion, with skin or 5-6 dark green portions of leeks, fresh or frozen
- 1 small garlic head, with skin
- 1-2 carrots, cleaned, broken in half
- 2-3 stalks celery, cleaned, broken in half
- 10-15 peppercorns, crushed
- Salt
- 3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme (optional)
- 2 tbsp olive oil, lard or tallow for sweating vegetables
- 2 large beet roots, leaves and stems removed, thoroughly cleaned
- 2 carrots, thoroughly cleaned
- [your root vegetable here, if desire, see suggestions above], thoroughly cleaned
- 2-3 stalks of celery, Chinese celery, or 1/2 celeriac root, cleaned
- 1 large onion, peeled
- 1 large bell pepper, cored and seeded
- 1 large green pepper, cored and seeded
- 2-3 large potatoes, peeled
- 1 small to medium cabbage head, cored
- 1 small can of tomato paste, or 1 14 oz (397 g) can of diced tomatoes with juice, or 3-4 large Roma tomatoes, diced
- 4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
- salt, fresh ground pepper to taste, a dash of Paprika or cayenne pepper, up to you
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 large handfuls of fresh chopped herbs or your choosing.
Instructions
- Combine meat bones and chunks of uncooked meat in a large stock pot with at least 12 cups of cold water. Water should cover all the meat and vegetables completely.
- Bring water to a boil, reduce heat immediately to very low.
- Skim the surface of the water with a skimmer, removing all gray foam and impurities.
- Add the vegetables and seasoning all at once.
- Let the stock slow simmer, uncovered, for at least 2 hours, or until meat is very tender. Remove the meat when fully cooked, and continue simmering the bones for another 2-3 hours for a heartier stock.
- Remove meat from the soup bones. Discard the bones and vegetables. Cut cooked meat into bite-size chunks. Reserve the meat.
- Strain the stock. Reserve the stock.
- Rinse the stock pot completely.
- Chop onions finely, celery stalks medium, and all root vegetables into thin french fry shapes. Cut bell peppers in half and slice crosswise into strips. Cube potatoes. Cut cabbage head into quarters, remove cores and slice each quarter crosswise thinly.
- Return the stock pot to the stove, bring the heat up to medium-low and add the vegetable cooking fat of your choice.
- Add chopped onions, carrots, celery, and root vegetables. Let them sweat for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add chopped bell peppers (if using). Sweat for another minute.
- Add cubed potatoes.
- Pour hot stock over vegetables. Add water if needed to cover vegetables.
- Bring soup to a boil and reduce heat to medium-low. Stir once and cook for 15 minutes.
- Add shredded cabbage. Bring to a boil and cook until cabbage is translucent but still somewhat crunchy.
- Add the reserved meat chunks and stir to distribute evenly.
- Add minced garlic, tomatoes or tomato paste, and lemon juice. Stir until tomato paste distributes evenly.
- Season to taste, adjusting salt if necessary. Add 1-2 tbsp of sugar if needed to brighten the flavor.
- Add almost all of the fresh herbs, reserving some for garnish.
- Serve borscht piping hot, with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of reserved fresh herbs.
Notes
- For a richer broth, use a combination of beef and pork bones.
- To reduce cooking time, use pre-cut vegetables.
- Leftover borscht can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days and freezes well.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 240 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Braising
- Cuisine: Eastern European
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1.5 cups
- Calories: 350
- Sugar: 10
- Sodium: 700
- Fat: 15
- Saturated Fat: 5
- Unsaturated Fat: 10
- Carbohydrates: 40
- Fiber: 8
- Protein: 20
- Cholesterol: 80