How many recipes are there for borscht? As many as chefs who cook it! There are countless versions for this tasty eastern-european soup and so far I haven’t had one that woudn’t be delicious. My version differs by using beetroots that have been fermented before, and used for making a drink (Kvass -recipe here). By fermenting beets before cooking them in the soup, you can really utilize all the goodness they contain without worrying about loosing any of their flavours or colour.
Ingredients:
– ~500g lean beef
– ~500g beef with bone
– 2 carrots
– 1 parsley root or parsnip
– piece of celery
– 5 rather big organic beetroots ( I’ve used 4 fermented and 1 fresh beetroot)
– 400g sauerkraut
– oil or other fat
– 1 red and 1 yellow onion
– 200 ml organic tomato puree
– 1 potato
– salt, pepper, allspice and bay leaf
Method:
1. Put beef into a big pot and pour as much water as needed to cover the meat completely. Cook for 1-2 hours, until tender.
2. Take the boiled meat out of the pot and either chop or tear into little pieces. Strain the beef broth and put aside.
3. You can use the same pot – in oil, fry chopped onions. Add chopped celery, parsley root, carots, potato and in the end fresh and fermented beetroots.
4. Add tomato puree and pour in the beef broth. Add sourkraut and season according to your preferences (salt, pepper, allspice and bay leafs). Add more water if needed and let simmer for a bit. Borscht is served with a little bit of sour cream on a top and the taste gets better on the second (third, fourth 
) day.