Borscht Beetroot Soup

Borscht originates from Eastern Europe where each country, and even each household, will have their variation of this hearty, slightly sour soup which usually (but not always!) contains beetroot. Ours combines beetroot with buckwheat for extra texture and nutrition. This also makes it a brilliant a brilliant one pot meal to warm up a winter's day!

Borscht

Dietary: Vegan and Gluten free | Serves 4

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 500g raw beetroot, peeled and diced small
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, diced small (preferably purple for colour if possible)
• 1 stick celery, diced small
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 750ml vegetable stock
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp brown sugar
• 100g toasted buckwheat (Kasha)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Topping

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 250g Brussels sprouts, shredded
• Fresh dill chopped for decoration
• soya cream or yoghurt (optional)

Method

1. Fry the onion, carrot and celery in the olive oil until the onion is translucent, add the garlic and fry for a couple more minutes.
2. Add the diced beetroot to the vegetables with the stock, lemon juice, red wine vinegar and brown sugar, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, place the buckwheat into a medium saucepan with 200ml cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat a little and simmer just until you can see the seeds pop open. Turn the heat to low, and cook with a lid on for 5 minutes. The buckwheat should have absorbed most of the water and be just tender. Drain any remaining water and stir into the borscht.
4. Season to taste.
5. For the topping, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and gently sauté the shredded sprouts with the crushed garlic. Season with a little salt and pepper.
6. To serve, ladle the hot borscht into bowls and garnish with the sautéed sprouts, chopped dill and a spoon of soya cream or yoghurt if desired.

Food photography by superstar Rob Wicks of Eat Pictures.

This recipe was featured in the January 2017 issue of Vegetarian Living.

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