There are sometimes more controversies around borscht than around politics. In fact, no one knows what proper borscht is. It should be tasty - that’s the main rule,” says Ilya Lazerson, president of the St. Petersburg Guild of Chefs. - Personally, I don’t like it when there are potatoes in borscht and Bell pepper. In my version there are none, and that is my right. Some people like sauerkraut and pre-boil or bake the beets. I like it more raw beets. I cut it into thin strips, add a little sugar, water, vegetable oil, and after 5 minutes add tomato paste. Then I stew the beets and add them to the pan at the very end of cooking. Thanks to this, the soup acquires a rich, appetizing shade. And this is just one of the secrets of delicious borscht.

1. With or without broth?

For vegetarian borscht, meat broth is not needed. But if you are a fan classic soup, which means you need to prepare a rich broth. For it, you can take beef brisket, chicken or pork and beef in a 1:1 ratio. It is better to pre-fry the pieces of meat for flavor. Or immediately put the meat on the bones in cold water and put it on fire. When it boils, remove the foam, add salt, Bay leaf, a few peas of black and allspice and cook for 2-3 hours until full readiness meat. Then you need to strain the broth, remove the meat from the bones, chop it and return it back to the pan.

2. Stew the beets separately!

If you put the beets in a common pan and then cook for about an hour, all the color will disappear from the vegetable and the borscht will turn out faded. To avoid this, you need to grate the root vegetable on a coarse grater or cut it into thin strips with a knife. Then add water, a teaspoon of sugar and be sure to have a little acid (a couple of tablespoons of wine vinegar or lemon juice), this will help the root vegetable retain its color. Place the beets on the fire and simmer until they become soft.

3. Or maybe cook?

The second popular option for preparing beets for borscht is to boil them in advance. It is important to rinse the vegetable thoroughly before immersing it in water, without cutting off the roots and top, otherwise the juice will “go” into the pan. For better preservation of the bright shade, do not salt the water, but pour 1/2 tsp into it. vinegar or citric acid. Cooking time depends on the size of the fruit and the season - young small root vegetables are usually cooked for 20-30 minutes, old ones - 1-1.5 hours. However, today most chefs advise baking beets rather than boiling them. To do this, wrap the fruit in food foil and place it in the oven for 30-40 minutes (time depends on the size of the tuber) at +180°C. In baked beets, the taste and color do not “dissolve” in water, so this method of preparation is considered the most successful.

Classic borscht Photo: shutterstock.com

Ingredients:

• Beef brisket - 500 g
• Pork - 500 g
• Carrots - 1 pc.
• Onions - 1 pc.
• Beets - 2 pcs.
• Cabbage - 300 g
• Sweet pepper - 1 pc.
• Potatoes - 200 g
• Tomato paste - 1 tbsp. l.
• Bay leaf, pepper, salt - to taste

How to cook:

1. Place the meat in a saucepan, add 3 liters of cold water, bring to a boil, cook for 2 hours.
2. Cut the carrots into strips, the onion into half rings, fry until golden brown. Place in a saucepan along with the chopped peppers.
3. After ten minutes, add cabbage, then potatoes.
4. Cut the beets into thin strips, simmer for 10 minutes, then add tomato paste, cover and cook for another 20 minutes.
5. Place in borscht 10 minutes after potatoes. Cook for another 10 minutes.
6. Add bay leaf, salt and pepper. Remove from heat and let steep for 20 minutes.

4. Don't forget the cabbage

Many people call borscht beetroot soup. In fact, these are different soups. Borscht has cabbage, but beetroot soup does not. Most often, fresh white cabbage shredded into strips is used for borscht. But there may be variations on the theme. For example, you can put red cabbage or savoy cabbage in a pan - it looks similar to white cabbage, but has a bright green color and corrugated bubble leaves. There are even versions of borscht with cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, but with them you still get a soup that is far from the classic one. Some people like to add sauerkraut instead of fresh cabbage. It must be washed, chopped, simmered separately until soft and only then added to the borscht.

5. Unsweetened couple: onion and carrot

Nutritionists are against all sorts of sautés that add calories to the dish. But if we speak from the point of view of taste and gastronomic rules, then borscht without sautéing is not borscht. First, fry the onion into strips in vegetable oil, then add the carrots cut into strips. When the vegetables acquire a golden hue, add tomato paste and simmer everything together for a few more minutes. Some housewives believe that it is better to use tomatoes instead of pasta - fresh or in own juice. Nevertheless, many professional chefs insist: only paste has the concentrated taste that is so necessary for the soup, which will give the borscht a beautiful color and pleasant sourness.

6. Vegetables - to taste

In addition to beets, carrots, onions and cabbage, other vegetables are added to the borscht to taste: potatoes, tomatoes and fresh sweet peppers, which are also chopped into strips. In general, do not forget that all products in the soup should be cut approximately equally. You can use any color of pepper: green, yellow, red, orange. The main thing is to maintain the proportion: there should be a lot of beets and cabbage in the borscht, and 2-3 times less potatoes, tomatoes and peppers.

7. Who is first in line?

Borscht, like most other soups beloved by Russians, is a filling first course. It is in the West that they prefer pureed soups, but we should have a broth in which various tasty additives float. In order for these additives to be harmoniously combined with each other and to obtain the correct consistency (and not when one product is overcooked and the other crunches on the teeth), it is necessary to observe the correct seasoning of the soup.

The first thing to go into the pan is shredded cabbage; it takes longer to cook than others. Then - sweet peppers and potatoes. At the very end, you need to add sautéed onions, carrots and tomato paste into the borscht, and finally, ready-made sour beets. After this, cook the soup for no more than 5 minutes. If you are preparing borscht with sauerkraut, it also needs to be added in the finale. If you add sour beets or cabbage first, and then potatoes, the latter will take a very long time to cook (the acid will interfere).

8. The final touch - lard with garlic

Many borscht lovers simply cannot imagine this soup without garlic and lard dressing. It gives the dish a bright juicy taste and a very appetizing garlic aroma... For the dressing you will need skinless lard, garlic and fresh herbs: dill and parsley. The products must be cut and crushed in a mortar or blender until pureed. Then this fatty mush with a delicious aroma is added to the prepared hot borscht, the lid is closed, and the soup is infused for at least 15 minutes. After this, you should not boil the contents of the pan, otherwise the aromas of garlic and herbs will disappear.

9. Lush, rosy donuts

We say “borscht”, and the word “pampushka” comes to mind! Pampushka is a round bun made from yeast dough. It is better to start cooking it immediately after you set the broth to cook, because the yeast dough must rise properly and have time to bake. Water, egg, salt, sugar, vegetable oil, yeast, flour - the ingredients for buns are simple. When the dough has risen, roll the balls and place them on a baking sheet, but remember that the donuts will rise during baking. If you want perfectly rounded buns, place them at a decent distance from each other. However, even if they stick together, they can be separated while hot and poured with garlic dressing. For dressing, take vegetable oil, crushed garlic, chopped dill with parsley and a little water. Mix everything and pour onto freshly baked plump donuts.

10. You can’t go anywhere without sour cream!

If a tureen has been collecting dust on the shelf of your sideboard for a long time and has not been used, take it out and use it for its intended purpose - it is in this beauty that it is customary to serve borscht on the table for big company. Place additives and snacks corresponding to the dish nearby - donuts, bread, chopped herbs and, of course, rich sour cream. Well, what would borscht be without sour cream!

Borscht with beans Photo: shutterstock.com

Borsch with prunes and mushrooms

Ingredients:

• Prunes - 200 g
• Dried porcini mushrooms - 20 g
• Potatoes - 4 pcs.
• Fresh cabbage- 300 g
• Beets - 3 pcs.
• Onions - 1 pc.
• Carrots - 1 pc.
• Tomato paste - 2 tbsp. l.
• Sugar - 1 tbsp. l.
• Parsley root - 1 pc.
• Flour - 0.5 tbsp. l.
• Vegetable oil - 3 tbsp. l.

How to cook:

1. Soak the mushrooms for 2 hours. Then cook for 1 hour. Remove the mushrooms, chop, and save the broth.
2. Rinse the prunes, add 2 cups of water, add sugar and cook until soft for 10 minutes.
3. Cut the beets into strips. Heat half the oil in a frying pan, add beets, 1 tbsp. l. tomato paste and mushroom broth, simmer, stirring, over low heat for 15 minutes.
4. Cut the onion, carrots and parsley root into strips and sauté with butter, tomato and flour for 5 minutes.
5. Place the cabbage in the boiling mushroom broth, after boiling, add the potatoes and cook for 15 minutes.
6. Place stewed beets and sautéed vegetables in a saucepan. Add mushrooms, cooked prunes along with the broth. Add salt and pepper and cook for another 10 minutes.

Dumplings garlic photos: shutterstock.com

Garlic dumplings

Ingredients:

• Wheat flour - 200 g
• Rye flour - 120 g
• Milk - 200 ml
• Eggs - 2 pcs.
• Yeast - 7 g
• Vegetable oil - 50 ml
• Sugar - 1 tsp.
• Flax seeds - 50 g
• Garlic - 4 cloves
• Salt - a pinch

How to cook:

1. Heat the milk until room temperature. Add dry yeast, stir.
2. Add sugar, 1 egg, vegetable oil, a little sifted flour and flax seeds. Mix.
3. Add the remaining flour, knead the dough and leave it to rise for 1 hour.
4. Place on the table and let rise for another 1 hour, covering with a towel.
5. Make 7-8 round donuts, brush the tops of the buns with yolk and bake for 20 minutes at 180°C.
6. Grease the still hot pampushki with crushed garlic mixed with a small amount of vegetable oil, salt and water.

Appetizing borscht without lard and frying is useful for everyone, including people on a diet. A minimum of time is spent on its preparation. You just need to prepare necessary products, wash, peel, cut and cook. The recipe for delicious borscht is easy to remember and does not require effort in the process. A large number of valuable microelements and vitamins – a storehouse for the health of the body. Amazing taste and the aroma will pleasantly delight all household members and guests.

Historical facts about borscht

Borscht is a soup made from vegetables. Among the required ingredients are beets and cabbage. Without these components it is impossible to imagine a full-fledged dish with this name. There is still debate about its origin among historians of the post-Soviet space. At the same time, this dish is very popular among many peoples, although it may differ in composition.

The Romans served something vaguely reminiscent of modern borscht. This stew was prepared on the basis of vegetables and had a reddish tint. Typically, the Romans added various edible products (cereals, seasonings, meat) to liquid food. This type of nutrition allowed us to gain strength and receive all the vitamins, proteins and microelements necessary for health. The trade relations that Greece had with other countries made it possible to expand the boundaries of the use of beets. The Scythians, Slavs and other peoples had the opportunity to invent original red vegetable soups.

The ancient Slavs ate the hogweed plant. It is believed that this is what gave the name to vegetable soup with beets and cabbage. In those days it was called exclusively stew. But they cooked it very often. According to one version, the recipe for borscht was invented by the Cossacks. A dish of cabbage and beets became their favorite food from a certain time and became widespread. Today there are a considerable number of various borscht recipes. Every Slavic people contributed to their diversity. Modern chefs are experimenting by adding various exotic products to borscht.

A simple step-by-step recipe for delicious borscht

Fragrant, appetizing borscht can be prepared very quickly using this recipe. From the dishes you will need a saucepan with a volume of approximately 3-4 liters. For big family You can take a larger container. But you will also need to add the amount of vegetables. You need to prepare a knife for cutting, a cutting board, and a spoon in advance.

Required ingredients:

• lean beef on the bone – 300 g;
• drinking water – 3-4 l;
• cabbage - or 1 head;
• onions – 1-2 pcs. (depending on size);
• salt - to taste;
• bay leaf – 2-3 pcs.;
• allspice peas – 3-5 pcs.;
• hops-suneli – 5-7 g;
• beets – 2-3 pcs.;
• carrots – 2-3 pcs. (small);
• tomato paste – 50-70 g;
• potatoes – 4-5 pcs. (depending on size).

Step-by-step preparation of borscht:

1. Wash the meat with the bone, remove the veins, film, and debris and immerse it in a pan of water. Turn on the heat and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat level and cook for approximately 15-20 minutes.

2. All vegetables specified in the recipe are peeled and washed. Rough parts and dried or spoiled leaves are removed from cabbage. Only the most tender and fresh ones are left.

3. The beets are first cut into slices, then into thin strips. Carrots are cut into cubes. To do this, it can first be chopped into rings or cut lengthwise. The onion is chopped into cubes or half rings. The potatoes are crushed into squares. Cabbage is chopped using a knife or a special grater. It is desirable that the twigs be thin and not rough.

4. Tomato paste is diluted in boiling broth and salted to taste.

5. Pour chopped vegetables into the pan. Mix everything, add suneli hops, allspice and cook until tender.

6. Turn off the heat and pour the finished borscht into bowls. Can be served with pepper, garlic or sour cream.

Each person chooses the ingredients for the dish at his own discretion. Usually all kinds of spices are added as additional products. It is important not to overdo it, so as not to make the borscht cloying or too specific. Tomato paste can be used in minimum quantities– 20-25 grams. If there are children at the table, it is better not to pepper the food at all during the cooking process. There are enough pepper shakers on the table for adults. In order not to oversalt, you should not rely on your taste if you have a taste for salty foods. You can always add salt to cooked food.

1. In order for the dish to cook as quickly as possible, there is no need to use old beef. It is advisable to give preference to veal.

2. You should never defrost meat in cold water. This method leads to a deterioration in the taste of the product. It is necessary to start defrosting in advance. Better the natural way.

3. If frying is used for borscht, it must be placed in the dish about 10 minutes before the end of cooking.

4. It is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of vegetables during the cooking process and follow the sequence of adding them to the pan. Typically, potatoes cook faster, while cabbage and beets take longer to fully cook.

5. Some gourmets love slightly undercooked cabbage leaves (so they have a pleasant crunch on the teeth). Other people want to eat only well-cooked vegetables. This fact must be taken into account when preparing borscht. You need to know the taste preferences of your loved ones and guests for whom the food is intended.

If you don’t have a lot of free time, but the question of an appetizing lunch is open, best choice turns out to be simple step by step recipe borscht Such vegetable soup You can safely offer it to your guests. And the absence of hot seasonings makes it possible to feed it to small children.

Bon appetit! If you liked the recipe, share it on social networks. Good luck everyone!

All fans of delicious food know for sure that traditional Ukrainian cuisine is not complete without borscht. Every housewife should know the recipe for the most delicious borscht, because it is an excellent first course that can capture the heart of any man. Of course, this is provided that it is prepared correctly, without any errors.

A little history

This dish has all the features traditional for Ukrainian and South Russian cuisines; it was prepared by our ancestors - the Slavs. It got its name because the main ingredient in this dish is beets, and in ancient times the vegetable was called “borscht”. From the territory Kievan Rus, where the dish was invented, it spread throughout the surrounding area and even to neighboring states. That is why it is currently in countries such as Poland, Lithuania, Romania and Belarus. This dish was very fond of the Russian rulers Catherine the Second and Alexander the Second, as well as the famous ballerina Anna Pavlova, whose name also went down in history.

Varieties of borscht

There are a considerable number of varieties of this soup, and which borscht is the most delicious remains a mystery to this day. This diversity is due to the fact that each nation put something of its own into the extracted recipe. national traditions native state - it changed the bark taste qualities ready dish.

All presented varieties are divided into two large categories: red borscht and cold borscht, which is also popularly called kholodnik. Kholodnik is more common in Belarus, where it is eaten as a snack with hot boiled potatoes.

Kholodnik

It is very simple to prepare such a dish - it is based on pre-prepared beets, which must first be pickled. As a rule, all ingredients are added raw to such a dish. All ingredients are diluted with kefir or other fermented milk products, the desired amount of hard-boiled chicken eggs is added to a common pan, and then everything is seasoned with sour cream and served.

There are a considerable number of fans of such a bright and delicious dish. It is prepared mainly in summer or spring, when all the ingredients can be easily obtained fresh.

Red

However, as many gourmets admit, the most delicious borscht is red, which is prepared by heat treating food and served hot. Its main ingredients are vegetables, which should initially be taken fresh. As a rule, the standard set includes carrots, potatoes, beets, cabbage, tomatoes and herbs. If desired, you can prepare lean borscht, but many housewives prefer to pre-cook meat broth from different types of meat. Many step-by-step recipes for the most delicious borscht recommend using chicken or pork broth. With such a combination of meat in the broth, the finished soup turns out to be the most aromatic and delicate in taste.

Before serving the finished dish, season it with sour cream or mayonnaise. In Ukrainian culture, the tradition of eating such soup as a bite with garlic and bread is especially widespread.

The most delicious borscht: step-by-step recipe with photos

In order to prepare an excellent soup, which is the king of traditional Ukrainian cuisine, you do not need to have a lot of culinary skills. It is enough to simply understand the order of cooking the ingredients, and also know how to properly cook a tasty and clear broth for the future soup.

Step 1: Preparing the broth

Many famous chefs recommend using pork or, in extreme cases, chicken to prepare the most delicious borscht. If you choose the first option, it is best to take it for cooking chest part and bones, which can be purchased inexpensively at almost any butcher shop.

Preparation of the broth should begin by boiling the bones, which should be filled with cold purified water. After this, cover the pan with a lid and put it on the stove to cook. As soon as the contents begin to boil, you should reduce the heat and begin to gradually remove the resulting foam. Correct actions at this stage will ensure a tasty and clear broth.

As practice shows, for the most delicious borscht, the bones need to be cooked for a couple of hours, without turning off the heat and skimming off the foam regularly. After this, you need to add meat to them in the amount indicated in the selected recipe. In this composition, the pan should be kept on low heat for a couple of hours.

If the broth is made from chicken, it will take about an hour or two to prepare. If this type of broth is chosen, it is not recommended to add another type of meat to it, so as not to interrupt the taste.

Ingredients

In the classic recipe for the most delicious Ukrainian borscht recommends taking a standard set of ingredients. It necessarily includes bright red beets (called beets in some recipes) - a couple of root vegetables, no more than 0.5 kg of fresh cabbage, a couple of medium-sized carrots, the same number of onions, five potatoes. This is a basic soup set, which is designed for broth made from 800 g of pork meat.

Step 2. Preparation of ingredients, their pre-processing

All components of borscht must be washed and peeled in advance. After this, the potatoes need to be cut into medium-sized cubes. As practice shows, root vegetables cut in this way give the finished soup a special taste.

Grate the beets into a separate plate on a coarse grater. Many people prefer to cut it into strips or bars by hand, but the recipes for the most delicious borscht often say that the vegetable, chopped in this way, gives the final result that original red or even burgundy color. After the beets have been grated, they should be sprinkled with the juice of half a lemon and, after mixing thoroughly, left in a cool place for 15-20 minutes.

The cabbage needs to be chopped, which most housewives do using regular kitchen knife. However, in modern world There are a considerable number of devices that can also be used. Some chefs recommend chopping the vegetable into cubes, but this does not change the taste of the soup.

Step 3. Preparing the borscht dressing

Ukrainian borscht becomes the most delicious only if the housewife uses lard, grated with garlic, as a dressing. To prepare it, you need to take a small piece of this product (about 50 grams) and grind it thoroughly. After this procedure, a couple of cloves of garlic are added to a common bowl, and in this composition the mass is crushed in a mortar until a state of homogeneity is formed. When ready, the dressing needs to be covered. cling film and place in the refrigerator until needed.

Some experienced housewives advise using old lard, which has a slightly yellowish color, to prepare such a mixture. However, along with them, there are recommendations regarding the use of aromatic lard with spices.

Step 4. Preparing the roast

Properly prepared frying is the element without which the most delicious borscht cannot be obtained. Photos depicting bright red borscht are taken to clearly convey the color that the dish should have if it was properly fried.

At the very beginning, you need to heat a frying pan, preferably with a non-stick coating, into which you should pour a small amount of sunflower oil. After it heats up, you need to put grated carrots and chopped onions into the frying pan. After this, 3-4 tomatoes, previously peeled, or 2-3 tablespoons of tomato paste should be sent to them. Vegetables need to be mixed well during frying. After some time, add beets to them and mix well. Everything in the pan is covered with a lid and simmered for 10-15 minutes.

Step 5. Cooking borscht

First, you need to heat the prepared broth to boiling water, into which you should add the prepared potatoes and chopped meat. In this composition, the dish is cooked for 10 minutes, after which you need to add shredded cabbage, continuing to cook over high heat for a short period - about 10 minutes.

After the vegetables begin to become more or less soft, the heat should be reduced and the prepared frying should be added to the pan. In this composition, everything is boiled until the vegetables are completely cooked; a dressing made from lard and garlic is added to the borscht, as well as finely chopped herbs, salt, pepper and other seasonings to taste. IN mandatory here you should add 1-2 bay leaves, which give the dish not only a pleasant aroma, but also some piquancy.

Tricks for cooking borscht

Any good housewife should know how to cook the most delicious borscht. This dish can become special if you follow the basic instructions and know some small tricks in the process of creating it.

A large part of success lies in the right products. To prepare borscht, do not be afraid to use too fatty pieces of meat - the juiciness and softness of the broth, as well as its richness, have never harmed the finished dish. A separate trick lies in the choice of beets: it is better to take them small sizes. In such root vegetables there is a smaller number of veins, which ensures greater juiciness of the fruit and, as a result, more bright color ready borscht.

If the potato chosen for cooking is too boiled, you can cut it larger - by the time the cabbage is cooked, the potatoes will not have time to boil to a puree. Some families prefer to pre-fry it before storing it - the vegetable turns out not only dense, but also especially tasty.

IN general composition ingredients can be used bell pepper- it will add some zest to the taste of the finished borscht. It is best to choose this vegetable at the market. The ideal fruit is green in color and rather unprepossessing in appearance - this will be the most aromatic and rich in useful components.

In the event that they are used for cooking borscht different types meat, it is best to take it in a 1:1 ratio.

You can use more than just lard and garlic as a dressing. For variety, at the final stage of preparing the soup, you can use ghee, fried cracklings or simple sour cream with the maximum percentage of fat content.

In order for the soup to be as aromatic as possible, after cooking it is advisable to wrap the pan with it in a towel and leave it to steep for six hours - the result will pleasantly surprise you.

The recipe for the most delicious borscht (with photo), which is presented here, is not a standard. It can be varied in any way the housewife wishes. Some people add their own secret ingredients to this soup, which improve the quality of the finished dish. Examples of these could be legumes, mushrooms or some special spices.

What you need to prepare not just beetroot soup, but a real traditional one Ukrainian borsch? We need to go somewhere to the Ukrainian hinterland and find Ukrainian woman respectable age, and tearfully begging, ask her to cook borscht for you:) It is possible that they will not refuse you, and then you will be able to taste a plate of aromatic, rich real Ukrainian borscht!...
But this option doesn’t suit me, you say, because... I can’t travel so far to look for someone... I want borscht today, here and now!
And you’ll be right, to enjoy the taste of real Ukrainian borscht, you don’t have to go anywhere! Because Yana shared with us an excellent recipe for completely authentic Ukrainian borscht, the pride of Ukrainian cuisine. She talked about all the intricacies, secrets and nuances of cooking, so you simply can’t help but succeed! The borscht turns out thick, rich, aromatic and incredibly tasty - once you try it, it’s impossible not to fall in love!

So, the main components of success in preparing borscht are quality delicious ingredients. First, a rich broth is prepared - the basis of borscht; for it, of course, you need to select tasty meat, preferably on the bone, there will be more fat. Alternatively, pork ribs would be a great choice. But borscht can also be cooked with chicken, turkey, beef or even water. These will already be variations of borscht, but still, such borscht has a place to exist.

Most main secret Ukrainian borscht is a piece of old lard, ground with garlic and added at the end of cooking, this dressing gives an amazing flavor!
And of course, borscht loves a lot of fresh herbs, sour cream and donuts - this is a Ukrainian classic! Enjoy the process and great results!

Ingredients

Step-by-step recipe with photos

Wash the meat, put it in a saucepan, pour cold water and bring to a boil. Carefully remove the foam, put the peeled onions and carrots into the pan. Bring to a boil again, reduce the heat so that the broth barely simmers, and cook the meat for about 2-3 hours until it becomes soft. At the end of cooking, add salt to the broth , and remove the onions and carrots and discard.
Advice. The readiness of the meat is checked with a fork or knife. If the knife enters the flesh with virtually no resistance, the meat is ready.
Remove the meat from the pan, cool, separate from the bones and cut into small pieces. Strain the meat broth through several layers of gauze and pour into a clean pan (you will get about 2 liters of broth).

Wash the potatoes, peel and cut into strips or cubes.
Wash the cabbage, cut out the stalk and chop finely.
Add potatoes to the broth and cook for about 15 minutes.
Then add cabbage and cook for about 5 minutes.
Advice.If the cabbage is young, it cooks quickly in about 5-7 minutes. Winter cabbage needs to be cooked longer, so it is better to add it to the broth along with potatoes, then the vegetables will be ready at the same time.

Prepare frying
Wash the beets, peel and cut into thin strips.
Wash the carrots, peel and cut into small cubes.
Peel the onion and cut into cubes.
Wash the bell pepper, remove the seeds and membranes, and cut into strips or small cubes.
Wash the tomatoes, make a cross-shaped cut on each one, put them in boiling water for 2 minutes, then in cold water and remove the skins.
Cut the tomatoes into cubes or grind in a blender.
Wash and chop the greens.
Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan, add beets and fry for 4 minutes.
Add onion, fry for about 2 minutes.
Then carrots - fry the vegetables until light golden brown.

Borscht is a dish that each of us has probably tried. Every housewife and every cook knows the recipe for this extraordinary dish. However, in order to cook the most delicious borscht, you need to know some subtleties and little secrets. The soup is seasoned with beets, the main ingredient. Beets can be used boiled, sautéed or stewed. The borscht recipe, in addition to it, is added with various other vegetables.

There is an opinion that every housewife cooks borscht with her own individual taste. And this is true, there are a lot of options for preparing this dish, so everyone will find a recipe with that unique taste. The basis of borscht is properly cooked meat broth. You can use any meat for it. Classic recipe usually based on beef or pork on the bone, but many prefer poultry. If you take meat on the bone, you must first cook it and remove the bone. It is not recommended to add salt to the broth at the very beginning. This won't make the taste any better, but... nutrients will get lost. To cook the broth correctly, you need to take the meat on the bone, add cold water and after boiling, remove the foam, then turn the heat down and cook for about two hours. Only by observing these secrets can the broth be cooked clear and rich.

you need to stock up on Ingredients:

• Meat on the bone - 1 kg.
• Beetroot - 1 pc.
• Potatoes - 4 pcs.
• Bow - 1 goal.
• Carrots - 1 pc.
• Bell pepper - 2 pcs.
• Tomatoes - 2 pcs.
• Fresh cabbage - 300 g.
• Greenery.
• Vegetable oil.
• Spices.

Recipe

1. Like every recipe, ours also states that before starting to prepare borscht, the meat needs preliminary preparation. We wash a piece of meat in cold water, cut off all excess films, if any, from it. Fill the meat with cold water and place the container on the stove. The amount of water does not matter, the main thing is that it completely covers the meat. This affects the fat content of the borscht. For about 1 kilogram of meat you need to take 2 - 2.5 liters of water.

2. While the broth is cooking, you need to prepare the vegetables.

3. Chop the cabbage, peel the onions and carrots. We work on the beets, remove the seeds from the peppers, taking out the center with the stalk. There is no need to touch the potatoes yet. Otherwise, it will become black and dry, then the borscht will be tasteless.

4. Don't forget about the broth. After the water boils, remove the scale with a slotted spoon and make the flame smaller. To get rid of all the scale, move the pan a little to the side so that the scale forms on one side. After new scale stops appearing, use a clean napkin to remove all its remnants from the walls of the pan. Use a spoon to remove any fat spots floating on top of the broth. From time to time you need to repeat everything. Salt the broth. The recipe reminds you that the water will boil away a little during cooking, so add a little less salt.

Secrets to help: To make the soup thicker, you need to boil one whole potato in it. When it is ready, take it out, knead it thoroughly and put it back.

5. We begin to prepare vegetable dressing. The recipe recommends doing everything consistently, cutting the vegetables correctly, and then the soup will turn out very tasty, rich and aromatic, which will delight the whole family.

6. Peel the potatoes, wash them and remove all the eyes. Cut into not too large cubes. Moreover, for thickness you can mash the potatoes with a spoon. Place it in a saucepan and let it boil, while the potatoes are boiling, chop the cabbage. We put it in the pan.

7. Chop the onion and other vegetables. Pour oil into the frying pan and, when it is hot, add the onion, lightly fry, stirring. There we also place peppers cut into thin strips and diced tomatoes, grated carrots and at the very end we fill the top with beets. Stir and cover the pan with a lid - let it simmer a little.

Secrets to help: To make the soup rich in color, you need to add a teaspoon of 6% acetic acid or lemon juice to the pan with beets. The acid will prevent the red pigments of beets and tomatoes from being destroyed by high temperatures.

8. In order not to disrupt the cooking recipe, put tomato paste and flour in a separate plate, stir everything thoroughly and dilute with cold water, stirring vigorously so that no lumps form. Remove the lid from the pan and add tomato preparation while stirring continuously. Continue stirring the contents of the pan until the color of the tomato paste changes and acquires a rich red hue. Then pour the finished product into the pan. Stir the borscht and add spices.

Secrets to help: To improve the taste of borscht, the recipe advises taking a piece of good lard, grinding it with salt and garlic, and adding the resulting aromatic mixture to the finished soup. This is done like this: cut a piece of lard finely with a knife, take a couple of cloves of garlic and crush it on a board with a masher, mix, evenly rubbing the lard with the garlic. Before turning off the gas, we dip our aromatic garlic preparation into the borscht. Be sure to cover the pan with a lid (don’t close it, just cover it), and let it brew a little for a richer taste.

9. Add seasonings. Usually these are peppercorns, bay leaves, fresh parsley.

10. Let the borscht stand for a while so that it is saturated with the garlic aroma, this will take 20-30 minutes under closed lid. After this time, you can serve the dish on the table and invite the whole family for dinner. Eating this borscht is very tasty with fresh village sour cream! The recipe for a delicious, rich dish with a pleasant red color will not leave even the most severe critic indifferent!

INTERESTING: Before the advent of potatoes, borscht was prepared with beets and beans. It was cooked separately or boiled in broth along with meat. This is how they cook it now, reducing the amount of potatoes or completely replacing them with beans.

Any borscht will be even more delicious if you eat it not with simple bread, but with fresh, hot pampushki - buns made from yeast dough with aromatic garlic sauce. They are very simple and easy to prepare.

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