Where I come from you could say beetroot is the king of vegetables. Great to grow reliably in cooler and moderate climates, it was and is a staple food and we enjoy it in a gazillion of different ways, most notably as a relish for meats (paired with horseradish) and in several different soups.
Botwinka [botfeenkah] is a soup associated with spring and early summer, when it is cooked with freshly harvested young beets which bear the same name. It can be made entirely vegan (we would call that a “fasting” version, think Lent), or cooked “on bones” for carnivores (chicken carcass is best to prepare the stock for this version). It’s tangy-sweet and intentionally light, hence I like to cook it on vegetable stock, but if your spring is cold and wet, adding a cream and flour finish will effectively increase its heartiness and make all things right again. :)
There are several ways to cook this soup depending on which flavours you’d prefer to bring out most. This recipe is an adapted version of one proposed by aniagotuje.pl, which I recommend if you can read Polish (some of you can, I know it). It is veg stock based as I like, giving a naturally sweeter and simultaneously lighter soup. In my opinion there is no need for adding sugar as was suggested by the original recipe, particularly if you can cook it with freshly picked spring root veg as these do tend to be the sweetest.
Prep time: 45 minutes
Serves: 2 adults and 2 hungry children :)
Ingredients:
3-6 young whole beetroots - root, stalk and leaf (the more root you’ll have, the deeper the taste and the red colour of the soup you’ll get. Mine above had three medium roots in it :)
2 carrots
2-4 medium potatoes
1 litre vegetable stock (if you haven’t got stock, you can add a small parsnip, a piece of leek or onion and a stalk or two of celery to the veg list and use water instead)
2 hard-boiled eggs cut in halves or quarters - optional
a bunch of dill (try adding dried marjoram if you’re not keen on dill)
1 tablespoon of cooking oil or butter (if using olive oil, skip the extra-virgin as you’ll need to use it for the initial frying; my mom swears by rapeseed, refined in this case)
1-2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice*
2 tablespoons double cream (single is also fine)**
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour**
salt and black pepper to season
Steps:
1. Wash, peel and chop the potatoes and carrots (and the additional veg if used).
2. Add the oil or butter to your pot, throw in the potatoes and carrots and fry uncovered, stirring occasionally for around 10 minutes or until slightly softened.
3.Wash, peel and chop the beets. Roots will look nice cut into half-moons, stalks and leaves chopped finely. Try not to have too many leaves - a handful or two is enough for this recipe. Keep them separate from the rest as they’ll go in at the very end. The older, bigger and more tattered leaves will make a great addition to compost.
4. Throw in the beets minus the leaves and pour over the stock (or water as above) until well covered. Add the lemon/lime juice*. Cook for another 15-20 minutes on low heat. Add the leaves and cook for another minute or two. I like to remove the leek or onion once it’s cooked soft.
5. Turn off the heat. In a separate bowl add the flour and gradually combine it with the cream**. By gradually adding in the cream to the flour you'll avoid flour lumps and get a smooth consistency much more easily. Now gradually add a few spoons of the soup into your bowl and stir well together after each spoon (this will prevent the cream from curdling in the hot broth). Chuck the resulting creamy sauce back into the soup.
6. Bring back to simmer until the soup starts to slightly thicken, then turn off the heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with chopped dill or marjoram for a lovely eastern-European vibe. Serve with hard-boiled egg pieces chucked in the middle for a protein boost.
Enjoy and if you’ve tried it, let me know what you think! Would you have changed anything? We’ve had a good meal and ended up with some left-overs, which I heat-seal into a jar. It will go in the fridge once cooled, ready for a quick lunch some time within the next two weeks.
TIP: This soup works wonders served chilled on the hottest days of the year (for this purpose, I like to remove the potatoes before canning the soup, as their texture becomes overly starchy with time).
* The lemon/lime juice is added not only for taste, but also because it helps preserve the vibrance of the colour of this soup. For some of us, the look is half the taste. :) This is however an ancient staple meal and as such the lemon would be replaced with traditional fermented beetroot juice, called kwas [kvas]. Beetroot kwas is available to buy in grocery shops in Poland or people make a home-made version. It is the same fermentation process as in the case of sauerkraut or fermented cucumbers, yoghurts, kefir etc. using the natural power of lactic acid bacteria, which is phenomenal for your microbiome and overall health.
** I actually often like to skip the cream and flour phase and opt for a lazy alternative, ie. serve the soup “neat” and give people the option to spoon in some yoghurt at the table. The slightly tangy taste of yoghurt goes really well here. And little people love to add their bit to the cooking process!
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