Monthly Archives: March 2011

We make borscht a couple of times each summer usually. I love the beets with the sour cream swirled on top. We don’t put it all through the blender or serve it cold. Will be nice to try a new recipe this summer and see how it comes out as a cold soup. This recipe comes from The Delicious Miss Dahl, a cooking show from the UK with Sophie Dahl. I just happened to catch the show today on the Food Network. Too bad they didn’t make more than one season. It was kind of elegant and glamorous in a simple way.

Sophie’s Borscht
This hot pink borscht looks best served in a glass punch bowl with party fare all around.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4

Ingredients

6 medium sized beetroots – washed but not peeled
5 spring onions, white part only
olive oil
1 1/2 litres vegetable or chicken stock
Shot of vodka
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 tablespoons creme fraiche, plus extra to serve
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Handful of chopped fresh dill
Chopped hardboiled free range egg to serve – optional

Directions

Wash and trim the stalky bits of the beetroot.

Sweat the spring onions in a pan with some olive oil on a low heat until they are translucent.

Then add the stock to the spring onions and leave on a low heat to warm.

In another pan, cover the beetroot with water; bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes until the beetroot is tender.

Drain, and when cool enough to handle peel off the skins and cut the beetroot into rough chunks.

Put the beetroot into a blender with the spring onion, stock and puree until smooth.

Add the shot of vodka, lemon juice, crème fraiche, season and give the mixture another whizz in the blender.

The soup can be served hot or cold. Either way serve with the chopped dill on top, a swirl of more crème fraiche and some chopped hardboiled egg if you feel like it.