Mira Staszowska's Beetroot Borscht / Beetroot Soup

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“Mira and her team made this most delicious beetroot borscht, my palate was surprised at the simple deliciousness of this together with the complex dimensions within this little bowl. I’m not hugely fond of any sorts of ‘beetroot soups’ so I would never have ordered this but what a special tasting gift. ”

— Jackie Cameron

Mira Staszowska's Borscht/Beetroot soup

Ingredients:

• 6 beetroot cleaned and wrapped in foil
• 0.5 tsp mix spices
• Salt
• Black pepper
• 1,5 Tbs sugar
• 3 Tbs white spirit vinegar (I even added more to suit my palate, up to you)
• 2 Tbs butter
• 1 large onion chopped
• 2 medium carrots grated
• 2 celery sticks sliced
• 1 parsnip grated
• Vegetable stock , enough to cover
• ½ cup tomato puree
• ½ cup fresh cream
• Sour cream for garnish
• Dill chopped for garnish

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C and bake beetroot until tender. Let it cool.
2. Peel skin off and grate the beetroot.
3. Spice with mix spices, salt ,black pepper, sugar and vinegar. They should not be to sweet or too sour. (It can be used as salad as well).
4. Melt the butter in a pot (about 5 litre pot in size).
5. Sauté onion in butter until glossy.
6. Add all the rest of vegetables and sauté them with onions for another 3 minutes then just cover them with stock and cook until tender.
7. Add tomato puree and prepared beetroot and more stock.
8. Bring it to the boil and simmer another 5 minutes.
9. Add fresh cream and liquidise the soup. Adjust flavour.
10. Serve topped with dollop of sour cream sprinkle with dill.