I never really knew how my mom cooked borsch. I remember it was a very long process, she boiled whole beet roots with the broth, then shredded cooked beets for which they had to be cooled and then she put them back to the pot. By the time I needed to cook borsch my mother was sick in a hospital, so I asked neighbors and my mom’s friends. I collected and compiled all the advices they gave me, and after several trials developed the recipe of my own. What makes it different – I split the cooking process into two parts: broth (chicken, turkey, beef bone or just vegetable) to which cabbage and potatoes are added and beets/herbs/tomatoes mixture – the essence of borsch flavor, which joins the broth pot in the end. For this mixture I shred raw beets, put it into a separate pan, add a little amount of water, sprinkle it with lemon juice to preserve the color, and cook it with the lid on on medium high heat, so it takes no more than 10 minutes for the beets to be fully cooked. It simplifies the cooking process by a lot, and can be done ahead of time or in parallel and is very fast. There is a minus though – an extra pot to wash.

For 3.5 liters pot (8 servings)

Ingredients:

• Medium size beet root, if stems and leaves look good – use them too. In that case the root can be smaller
• Onion (for the broth)
• Parsnip
• Celery
• carrots 2 medium size (for the broth)
• Sweet pepper
• Potatoes – 2 medium
• Chili pepper – 1 small (optional)
• Big ripe tomato, or a cup of diced tomatoes
• Tomato paste – 1tbsp
• Cabbage – it should be about a cup when shredded
• Garlic – 3-4 cloves
• Bay leaf
• Parsley

Directions:

• Start cooking you broth with usual aromatics (onion carrots, celery), season with salt, pepper, add bay leaf. Cook on medium heat. Make sure you have enough room in the pot for the vegetables.
• When broth is ready and meat is cooked add shredded cabbage and diced potatoes. It will take about 10 minutes for the vegetables to cook.
• Season with salt, pepper, add bay leaf.
• In a separate pan place shredded beat with chopped stems and leaves, add 1/2 cup of water, sprinkle some lemon juice (about 2 tbsp) to preserve the color, cover with the lid and put on medium heat.
• It should take about 7-10 minutes for the shredded beets to cook through, but check in 5 minutes and add some water if needed.
• Add your other chopped aromatics: sweet pepper, chopped parsnip, chili pepper, parsley.
• Cook everything together for 2-3 minutes
• Add fresh and/or diced tomatoes, tomato paste or maybe even ketchup, bring the mixture to a boil and take off the heat.
• Add the mixture to the pot with broth when potato and cabbage are almost cooked, bring everything to a boil. Check that potatoes are cooked, check for seasoning, add salt/pepper if needed. It should be very fragrant, rich and slightly sour from tomatoes and cabbage.
• Turn off the heat, add pureed or smashed garlic, cover the lid, let your borsch rest and the all flavors mix.