Ukrainian Borscht

There’s such a depth of flavor to this iconic ruby red soup!

Ingredients

• 1 onion
• 150 g celeriac
• 1 kg bones for stock
• 750 g braising beef (e.g. shoulder)
• 1 TL peppercorns
• 1 TL juniper berries
• 1 bay leaf
• 200 g waxy potatoes
• 2 carrots
• 500 g beetroot
• 150 g savoy cabbage
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 EL butter
• 2 EL tomato purée
• 2 -3 EL red wine vinegar
• A Prisen sugar
• 4 EL sour cream
• 2 EL freshly chopped dill

Steps

1. Preparation:
2. First make the stock. Peel and halve the onion. Peel and chop the celeriac. Rinse the stock bones in cold water and combine in a large pot or casserole dish with the braising beef, prepared onion and celeriac, peppercorns, juniper and bay leaf.  Cover with approx. 1.5 litres of water, bring to the boil and simmer gently over a low heat for about 2 hours until everything is beautifully tender. Add a little water as necessary.
3. To make the soup, peel the potatoes, carrots and beetroot and cut into cubes or sticks. Wash and clean the savoy cabbage and cut into strips. Remove the meat from the stock and pass the liquid through a sieve. Pour about 1 litre back into the pot, season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil.  Now add the cabbage and potatoes and simmer gently for about 15 minutes.
4. Briefly sauté the carrots and beetroot in the melted butter. Mix in the tomato purée and deglaze with a little stock. Add the vinegar, sugar and a little salt and pepper, then simmer gently over a low heat for about 10 minutes. Add to the soup in the pot and simmer everything together for a final 30 minutes or so. Add more stock if necessary.
5. Cut the cooled meat into cubes, add to the hot soup and divide into bowls.
6. Serve garnished with the sour cream and dill