Last month, Canadians celebrated Thanksgiving Day (Oct.12th) and alongside of the usual turkey, fixins, pumpkin pie came a soup as a starter.
My brother’s girlfriend is of Polish descent and being fully aware that she (as with many Slavic peoples) that they love beets. Last year I made a Beet soup with a Greek flare but I wanted to try my hand at a traditional beet soup – Borscht.
I’ve only ever tried Borscht before (never made it), so I was a little nervous about it’s authenticity. All the nerves vanished when Natalia (brother’s girlfriend) tasting the soup.
She rejoiced as she tasted the chunky, earthy soup at our Thanksgiving table. A dollop of strained Greek yogurt, some last-minutes chopped fresh dill and Borscht is on!
As a personal preference, I wrapped the beets in foil and placed them in the oven until fork-tender. You may boil them but I think you’ll find that roasting beets concentrates their flavour.
It’s definitely soup season and beets are in season, delicious and mondo-healthy for you. Try your hand at Borscht…Natalia gave the A-OK signal on this one!
Borscht
2 large beets (about 1lb.)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 medium onions, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, smashed
2 carrots, sliced
2 stalks of celery, sliced
2 potatoes, cut into cubes
approx. 2 cups of finely sliced white cabbage
1 cup of tomato puree
1/2 cup of chopped fresh parsley
6-8 cups of stock (traditionally beef stock is used)
salt and pepper to taste
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup of chopped fresh dill
strained Greek yogurt or sour cream for garnish
- Pre-heat your oven to 450F and wrap your beets with aluminum foil. Baked for 45 minutes or until fork-tender. Peel the skins of the beets with the back of a knife and chop into spoon-sized chunks.
- In a large pot, add your olive oil, onions, carrots and celery and saute over medium heat for about 15 minutes. Now add your shredded cabbage, tomato puree, chopped parsley and beets and stir-in and saute for another 5 minutes.
- Now add your stock (should cover all your vegetables) and potatoes and bring to a boil. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer with the lid slightly ajar for 45 to 60 minutes.
- When the cabbage and vegetables are tender and you have your desired soup consistency. Take off the heat, add your chopped fresh dill and lemon juice and stir in.
- Serve a bowl of this chunky Borscht with a dollop of strained Greek yogurt and a garnish of fresh dill.
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© 2007-2009 Peter Minakis
Looks lovely Peter and I imagine it would have a sweet, earthy flavour. The yogurt and dill are a nice touch.
Beets are a childhood favourite Peter. L’il Burnt Toast loves the White Borscht, but I LOVE both.
This dish is absolute eye candy! I don’t eat beets enough and this is a real inspiration to get off my duff and enjoy them again.
This really a quite nice beet borscht.
Snap….I made beetroot chutney yesterday!!! This soup looks tantalizing. I love it being chunky which is abnormal for a borscht.
that’s a really unusual soup for greeks admittedly – but i would still like to try this one out
I love Borscht. I think it is such a comfort food for winter and packed with so much goodness! I usually boil some meat with the soup instead of using stock and then shred it. I totally agree about roasting beets. No going back to boiling ever again!
What a coincidence. we both published a beetroot dish at the same moment. Looks good!
δείχνει Ï€Î¿Î»Ï Ï‰Ïαία, παίÏνω το μεδίδιο μου και πάω να το απολαÏσω !!!
φιλια πολλά
i don’t believe i’d go out of my way to eat this, but i have to appreciate its beauty. well done, peter.
Oh do I love this soup! It must me the Lithuanian in me. Now the questions is have I turned Matt on to beets enough to get him to eat & enjoy this soup
That looks gorgeous Peter. I have yet to try out Borscht for myself, having actually never tasted it!
I’ve never tried Borscht but I love beets and I imagine I would very much like this soup.
The yogurt on top is great … eat some with virtually any soup I make lately!
Hola Pedro! Sure roasting them made a big difference!!!
Here we are still at 20-25ºC… beachtime again, he, he… when it cools down a bit I should try your soup. Yogurt on top makes it sooooo Greek! ;D
Καταπληκτικό το χÏώμα της σοÏπας σου Peter, από νοστιμιά δεν αμφιβάλλω ότι είναι σοÏπεÏ, παίÏνω κι εγώ το πιάτο μου και πάω δίπλα στην ΜαÏία να το απολαÏσω;-)
Φιλιά!
Now this soup looks good!
I made soup yesterday too but not beetroot. Love the pictures Peter.
Very Beetalicious indeedy!
Hey Peter! What a coincidence…my husband is Polish too and believe me I do know how much the Poles LOVE their beets! I, on the other hand, dislike Borscht, seems that’s all my M-I-L ever cooks when we visit! On the flip-side, I do really enjoy Greek beet salad…go figure! HAHA!
Peter, Peter, Peter – You’ve captured my heart. Borscht is one of my favorite dishes. We tend to use sour cream — but the Greek yogurt is a nice touch. And fresh dill is an absolute prerequisite!
The colour is so inviting! I love Borscht and its been ages since I had some. It looks great :)
Looks so good! I have never tried making borscht either! I think I will!
Looks so tempting. I love beets, but have never made borscht. I think I need to change that.
I’ve never liked beets… but I iwll always make an exception for borscht! Such a delicious dish, and yours lookf like the real deal :)
Yay! The borsch was amazing Peter. I didn’t even notice that it was Greek yogurt on there and not sour cream! mmmmm want more. It really did taste like my mom’s :)