Recipe: Borscht according to Vlasblom

By Andrew Vlasblom

Here is a recipe for borscht (Ukrainian soup) that I learned while in St. Petersburg. It’s simple and quick, and yields a large pot of hearty soup.

8 cups of water
6-7 cubes of bouillon (chicken, beef, vegetable)
1 Whole carrot, peeled
2-3 carrots chopped
1 large potato (peeled and diced)
1 onion (chopped)
1 large onion (peeled)
2 large beets (peeled and shaved into strips [vegetable peeler works great)
½ large cabbage (chopped)
2 large tomatoes diced
1 can of tomato sauce
10 sprigs of curly parsley
oil
salt
sour cream

1. In a large pot, boil 8 cups of water, cubes of chicken/beef/vegetable bouillon, 1 whole carrot, peeled and diced potato, and peeled onion.

2. Sautee on medium heat beet shavings, chopped onion, chopped cabbage, chopped carrots, and diced tomatoes for 3-5 minutes in a small amount of oil.

3. Add the sauteed veggies to the pot of soup. You can opt to add cooked chicken, beef or extra vegetables as well. Stir together.

4. Add half a can of tomato sauce, salt to taste, and stir. Chop about 10 sprigs of parsley and stir in.

5. Allow the ingredients to come together and flavour up for about 1/2 hour. Be sure to cover the pot with a lid. Stir occasionally.

Serving: Ladle into bowls. Add spoon of sour cream (if available; I did without) and garnish with sprig of parsley. Serve with fresh bread and vodka (the soup does wonders for alleviating the burn of a vodka shot).

Should yield about 8-10 medium sized bowls of soup.

Enjoy!