Sort of borscht

I’ve mentioned it before, but I love beetroots. I never used to, but as a child my only experience of beetroot was from a jar full of vinegar. Whenever I see fresh beetroot in my local farmshop or farmer’s market I buy it. And then it often sits in my fridge till the following weekend for me to do something with it (what could I do with a beetroot quickly on a weekday evening after a long day at work and the train journey home)?

So there was a bunch of beetroot in my fridge this morning, wasn’t there? Three large beetroot. They could have become a tart, or another jar of spiced beetroot relish. Or that salad with dill and shallots and oranges.

Or borscht.

I don’t know if it really was borscht or not, I just made it up.

Valley Borscht

• A bunch of beetroot
• a large onion
• a couple of sticks of celery
• a knob of butter
• caraway seeds
• a chicken stock cube, or some chicken stock if you have some kicking about (use veg stock if you’re vegetarian, obviously!)
• a bay leaf

1. Chop the onion and celery finely (ish) but don’t fret about it if it’s not all teeny wee chunkies
2. Melt the butter in a heavy based pan and add the onion and celery; sweat them gently
3. Peel the beetroot and grate it coarsely (if you don’t have a food processor then you might prefer to just cut it into wee chunks)
4. Pop about 1 TBsp of caraway seeds into a pestle and mortar and smoosh them up a bit. They might have been even better if I’d quickly toasted them first
5. When the onion and celery is looking slightly translucent add the caraway seeds and stir
6. Then add the beetroot and stir again
7. Add the bay leaf
8. Cook it for a wee minute and then add the stock cube and hot water from the kettle. I added enough water to cover the beetroot plus an extra centimetre
9. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 30-40 minutes
10. Remove the bay leaf
11. Use a handheld blender and zizz it all up (or pour it into a liquidiser and liquidise it that way)
12. Ladle into bowls and add a swirl of cream, or a couple of basil leaves, or a swoosh of basil oil or some chopped dill sprinkled over it

Perfect lunch with a chunky slice of homemade bread (preferably sourdough).

And now I’ve made the borscht, I have a perfect quick supper for later this week. Perhaps with a poached egg on toast. Imagine that dark yellow yolk on a plate next to a bowl of dark beetroot soup. Lush.

Related articles

• Falling for Borscht: Autumn Beet & Vegetable Soup (localizeyourfood.wordpress.com)
• Time for some beetroot soup! (loiselden.com)
• Bear Breaks Into Home In Russia, Eats Borscht Soup Before Residents Call Police (PHOTOS) (huffingtonpost.com)

Tags: autumn flavours, beetroot, Borscht, quick supper, recipe, soup, vegetarian