Borscht

I once had some real Russian borscht, which to my surprise was made just with cabbage and no beetroot. It was delicious. I’ve never been able to find that recipe, but have found many other borscht recipes. They are all a bit different, but with certain commonalities. Here’s how I make it, but if you vary the relative quantities depending on what you have in the cupboard it won’t matter. This makes a huge potful, so halve the quantity if you have a smaller pan.

• 3 Tbs butter (or olive oil, or meat fat)
• 2 onions, roughly chopped
• 1 head cabbage, roughly chopped
• 2 litres (8 cups) beef or other stock
• 3 cups beetroot, peeled and chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 3 cups potato, chopped (try using purple heritage potatoes, if you can find them)
• 140g punnet of tomato paste –OR- 1 cup tomato puree –OR- 1 tin chopped tomatoes –OR- 4 large fresh tomatoes, chopped and destalked
• Juice of 1 large lemon
• Heaped tsp caraway seeds
• 1 tsp sea salt
• Sour cream (to garnish) – preferably home fermented
• Chopped parsley or a sprinkle of paprika (to garnish)

Saute the onions in the butter in the stockpot. Toss in the cabbage, and turn in the butter for a few minutes. Add the stock, bring to the boil and skim off any scum. Add other ingredients, and simmer for 30 minutes or more – if you leave it all day in a crockpot, that’s just fine. When it’s ready, puree with a handheld blender, add a bit more sea salt if needed and serve. Garnish with plenty of sour cream, and a sprinkling of chopped parsley or paprika.

Variation:

• Serve with chopped chorizo or other spicy sausage in it

SF Variation:

• To make a starch free version, just leave out the potato
• The texture won’t be quite as smooth, and it will smell a bit “cabbagey” – but add plenty of sour cream and it will still taste good