Borsch is a type of vegetable soup, which is one of the most delicious in the world. Therefore, the debate about who owns the merit of his invention is still ongoing. But really, where did this dish come from? How to cook it right? The best borscht recipes are collected in this article.
A bit of history
It is believed that the first soup was prepared during the war with the Turks, during the capture of the Azov fortress. The Cossacks had to spend several days hungry, and then they collected everything that grew next to them, threw it into the cauldron and cooked it. Since then, it is believed that borsch is a national Ukrainian dish. At the same time, they say that even in ancient times, this concoction was considered one of the main dishes of the ancient Romans. Of course, since then the recipe has been lost, changed, and now every nation has its own peculiarities and subtleties of cooking this soup.
The classic way of cooking requires the presence of beets. This is one of the main ingredients. But there are many recipes without adding it. Your attention will be presented to several recipes for borscht, which are prepared without the addition of beets. And it turns out pretty tasty. However, you can verify this yourself by reading the article and going to the kitchen.
Beetroot without beetroot
To make borscht you will need:
- 350 g of pork meat on the bone;
- potatoes - 2 pcs.;
- carrots - 2 pcs.;
- 200 g of white cabbage;
- 1 medium onion;
- 2 teaspoons of tomato powder or paste;
- 1 pc. red and yellow bell peppers;
- 2 tomatoes;
- some vegetable oil for frying;
- garlic, salt and a mixture of spices.
Instruction manual
Rinse the meat, pour cold water, cook the broth over high heat. After boiling, remove the foam, put in the pan one whole carrot and onion, a little mixture of peppers, a couple of bay leaves, then reduce the heat and cook until cooked, covered, for about two hours.
While the broth is boiling, prepare the rest of the ingredients. Peel potatoes, cut into large cubes, carrots - with thin strips or grate, chop cabbage, chop onion.
After the meat is cooked, remove it from the broth. Also take out the onions and carrots, we do not need them. It is better to strain the broth in another saucepan. So it will turn out clean and transparent.
We put the pan with the broth on the fire, add shredded cabbage and potatoes.
Separately, until golden brown, fry the onions, immediately add carrots, tomatoes, bell peppers, tomato and a little broth. Simmer over low heat for about fifteen minutes. Ready-made stewed vegetables should be added to the broth and continue cooking for another thirty minutes. At the end of cooking, add the chopped garlic, chopped meat, a little greens and salt to taste. Turn off the fire and let stand for 20 minutes. Such borsch with sour cream and croutons is especially tasty.
Borsch with sorrel and egg
There are many recipes for this dish - both on meat broth and on vegetable, with the addition of boiled eggs and raw, with tomato paste, nettle, etc. We will prepare light borsch with sorrel and an egg according to the classic recipe. For this we need:
- 3 liters of meat or vegetable broth;
- 2 potatoes;
- 2 carrots;
- 50 g of green onions and dill;
- 250 g of sorrel;
- 2 chicken eggs.
We put the broth on the fire. After it boils, add the potatoes, chopped carrots into thin strips. Cook for half an hour. Wash the sorrel, finely chop, add to the cooked vegetables, bring to a boil, pour beaten eggs in a thin stream, mix, salt to taste. Sprinkle with green onions and dill. Remove from heat. Serve the dish with sour cream.
With chicken meat
Borsch with chicken without cabbage, despite its unusualness, turns out to be very tasty and light. Belarusians like to cook such a dish. In order to cook borsch with chicken, we need:
- 500 g of chicken with bone;
- carrots - one thing;
- potatoes - three pieces;
- small onions - two pieces;
- tomatoes - three pieces;
- adjika - 2 tablespoons;
- bay leaf - 2 pcs.;
- salt and greens.
Put chicken in a pan, pour purified cold water and send to cook. After the broth has boiled, remove the foam, add two bay leaves and continue cooking until the meat separates from the bones. Then we take out the meat, and in the broth we add potatoes, coarsely grated carrots, adjika, finely chopped tomato and onion, meat separated from the bones. We cook everything until cooked. Then add finely chopped greens, salt and remove from heat. We insist twenty minutes. Borscht without beets with chicken meat is ready! When serving, add sour cream.
Cabbage Recipe
In order to cook borsch with cabbage, we need:
- chicken leg - 300 grams;
- tomato juice - one glass;
- four potatoes;
- one onion;
- 300 g of red cabbage;
- one carrot;
- greens, salt, frying oil.
Cook chicken until half cooked, add chopped potatoes, finely chopped cabbage. Separately, fry the onion in vegetable oil until translucent, add carrots, tomato juice. Simmer for literally two minutes, then put everything in the soup and cook until tender. Salt, add spices and herbs to taste. If desired, season with sour cream.
With beef
Borsch with beef is obtained with a rich taste and aroma. To prepare it, we need:
- beef ribs - 500 grams;
- carrots - 1 piece;
- canned red beans in tomato - 1 can;
- onion - 1 piece;
- cabbage - 200 grams;
- potatoes - 3 pieces;
- Bulgarian pepper - 1 piece;
- salt, spices - to taste.
Pour the beef ribs with three liters of water, then you need to add spices to taste, cook for 3-3.5 hours. Then take out the meat, separate it from the bones. At the same time, in another deep saucepan in vegetable oil, you need to fry the onions, shredded cabbage, grated carrots and bell peppers. Then add a little broth, salt, allspice to taste. Pour the prepared beans with the remaining broth, add chopped potatoes and meat, cook until tender. Serving borsch with beef, you can add sour cream. The dish goes well with garlic croutons.
Borsch "young" or "spring"
Such a “young” borsch is a light vitamin dish. And if you cook it on lean meat, then it will also be dietary. Best for this are turkey meatballs, which we cook in advance and freeze. To do this, grind the poultry fillet and onion, salt, pepper, add the chicken egg and mix well. Form the meatballs, put on a tray and freeze. The finished meat product is transferred to a bag and stored in the freezer. Do not defrost before use.
So, to cook spring beetroot soup without beets, we need:
- Meatballs - 350 g.
- Fresh nettle - two bunches.
- Potatoes - two pieces.
- Carrots are one thing.
- Fresh cabbage - 200 g.
- Boiled egg - 2 pieces.
- Greens and salt to taste.
In a saucepan, we collect two liters of water. Bring to a boil and lower the meatballs. Dice potatoes and carrots, put in a pan. Finely chop the cabbage and send it to our container. Cook until fully cooked, add finely chopped nettle, egg and greens, salt and turn off. Let it brew for about twenty minutes. Pour into plates, add sour cream.
As you can see, there are many recipes for which you can cook borscht without beets. It can be used both hot and cold.
Bon Appetit!