This week: Barszcz recipe

Barszcz is the Polish version of the beetroot soup, you may know better by the name of Borscht. We went for dinner at friends a couple of weeks ago and we had this for our starter. My friend had told me she was thinking about making it and said that even though she doesn't like beetroot, she likes this soup. I too, don't like beetroot and usually end up making it into some form of cake but I was definitely up for trying the soup and really liked it. The children both ate it all up too.

I asked my friend for the recipe and as we got some beetroot in our veg box this week, I plan on making some. Soups are suddenly very appealing again now we're getting cooler temperatures. Whether you are a beetroot lover, or not, I'd recommend you trying the soup. The sweetness from the carrot and tomatoes compliment and almost mask the beetroot flavour, making it a tasty bowl of soup! The recipe is vegetarian and can easily be vegan by substituting the small bit of butter for oil of your choice.

Barszcz
Serves 4
Total time required Total time: 1 hr 45 mins
Preparation time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

• 2 beetroot, large
• 1 onion1 carrot
• 1 celery stick
• 45g butter
• 400g chopped tomatoes
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1.7 litres vegetable stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cloves
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch black pepper, freshly ground

Method

• Roughly grate the beetroot, onion, carrot, and celery stick.
• Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the vegetables and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, or until just softened.
• Add the tomatoes and crushed garlic, and cook for 2–3 minutes, stirring frequently, then stir in the stock.
• Add the bay leaves and cloves to the pan. Bring the soup to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour 20 minutes.
• Discard the bay leaves and cloves. Stir in the lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Have you tasted this soup before, or another version of it? How do you tend to cook beetroot or do you eat it raw in a salad?
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photo credit