Borscht -two ways

Fresh out of the pot!



Pureed nice and smooth.

I had a bundle of veggies I needed to use up and I thought I'd attempt to make borscht. Here's the recipe I used:

3 small beets, peeled and chopped
2 small yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 small head cabbage, cleaned and chopped.
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
salt
pepper
cumin
1 cup white wine
sugar (optional)
1 tbsp Olive Oil
2 cups water
2 cups stock
1 tsp vinegar (cider or balsamic)
Garnish: Sour cream, Mascarpone cheese, dill, cream

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In a large pot or dutch oven, heat up the oil. Add onions and carrots and sweat. Add dash or so of salt. Once onions are slightly translucent, add garlic, cumin (tsp or so), pepper. Cook until fragrant. Add wine and reduce. Add water and stock, and the remaining veggies. Cover and cook 30 minutes or until tender (30 minutes). About halfway thru, add the sugar if using. Stir in vinegar just before serving.

For straight out of the pot, pour into bowls. Top with sour cream or mascarpone cheese. Garnish with dill if desired.

For puree - let soup cool a bit and puree with either a immersion blender or in a blender (small batches) until smooth. You can add mascarpone directly to soup. Or lighten with cream if desired. Garnish the same as above.