The first dishes are quite common in the menu of Russian cuisine, here you can find hundreds of various recipes. Many housewives liked the beetroot recipe. Hot or cold - you decide. The cold version of this dish is a light refreshing soup, which is prepared in the summer. It is both a light and hearty meal. It can be used both for men who are tired of daily labor, and for women who follow the figure and tend to eat right.
But for frosty and cold winters, a recipe for hot beetroot is better. This is a great lunch option for both adults and children. Cold beetroot seasoned with sour cream, kefir, whey or kvass. Hot - served with sour cream, mayonnaise or garlic croutons.
Differences and Benefits
Very often, inexperienced housewives take for ordinary beetroot soup. But this dish differs from borscht in the absence of some ingredients. In beetroot you will not find cabbage or beans. But in it there will be a large amount of meat. Moreover, the meat component for this soup can be completely different. Some housewives boldly combine pork with chicken, add beef or lamb.
As for vegetables, the recipe for hot beetroot may include: green peas, sweet bell pepper, cauliflower, tomatoes.
The main advantage of beetroot soup is that this first dish is prepared much faster than borsch.
To beets were red
It is very important that the beets added to the beetroot remain red for a long time. Surely, you have noticed more than once that after adding beets to beetroot soup, the beets grow dull and the soup turns yellow. To prevent such embarrassment from happening with beetroot, it is recommended to add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice during the cooking of the vegetable.
In order to make the soup broth more nutritious and rich, it is recommended to use meat on the bone for the preparation of beetroot. It can be more fatty pork, low-calorie chicken or neutral beef. If beef or pork meat is taken for the broth, then we recommend cooking it for at least two hours. In this case, the first course will be appetizing and satisfying.
A hot beetroot recipe with a photo and a detailed description of the cooking process is presented below.
List of ingredients
- 550 g of meat;
- 120 g pork fat;
- 4-5 potatoes;
- beets - 3 pcs.;
- one onion;
- a couple of carrots;
- head of garlic;
- 220 ml of tomato juice;
- fresh or frozen dill;
- sour cream;
- lemon;
Cooking broth
A very important detail of any first course is the broth. For a classic recipe for hot beetroot soup, the broth should be rich, aromatic and light. How to achieve this? There are several rules to follow:
- First, the meat should be with bone.
- Secondly, before cooking it must be thoroughly rinsed and freed of excess films.
- Thirdly, you can not miss the moment of boiling. As soon as the first light foam appears, we immediately stand at the stove and “guard”. All foam must be removed. As soon as the broth becomes brighter, make the fire a little less.
- Fourth, do not be lazy to spend time. A good broth for beetroot should be cooked for at least 40-60 minutes.
Vegetable preparation
While the broth is preparing, we are engaged in vegetables. Beets and carrots should be chopped very finely or grated. Onions are cut into small cubes. We do the same with garlic. We send finely chopped pork fat to the pan, lightly fry. As soon as the first layer of fat appears, add onion and carrots to the bacon. We bring the vegetables to a golden color, pour in tomato juice, warm them up a little and put them on a plate.
The second approach is roasting beets. First, we throw garlic cloves into the fat. Fry lightly, remove and put the beets in the pan. To make the color brighter, more saturated and preserved for a long time, add a few teaspoons of vinegar. If the smell of vinegar is frightening, then replace it with lemon juice. It is important to leave a few circles of lemon intact. They come in handy for serving.
Soup assembly
From the broth we extract the bones with meat. We wait a little when it cools down and take it apart in portions. We send the meat back to the broth. Add the diced potatoes and set to cook over medium heat. As soon as the potatoes are almost ready (we check the density of the slices with a fork, not a knife), add the fried vegetables (carrots and onions) to the dish.
After a few minutes, spread the roasted beets from the pan. It remains to cook another 5-7 minutes. At the last stages of cooking, the hot beetroot recipe cannot do without a couple more drops of lemon juice. So to speak, we fix the result of roasting beets and make the soup one hundred percent red. From spices, you can add a few peas of pepper (allspice or plain black), bay leaf. Of course, do not forget to try the dish on the salt at the end of cooking.
Hot beetroot recipe with meat mastered. Do not forget about the beautiful presentation of the dish. Having poured soup into a plate, we put several large pieces of meat there. Sprinkle with green onions on top, put a spoonful of homemade sour cream and half a circle of lemon on the edge.