Green borscht with sorrel

Ingredients for 12 servings:

• 1 ½ kg beef rib(s) or soup meat
• 10 small potatoes, waxy
• 10 eggs
• 4 m.-sized onion(s)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 jars of sorrel (from Dovgan)
• 2 bunches of dill
• e.g. sour cream
• salt and pepper
• Sugar

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 3 hours 30 minutes; Total time approx. 4 hours

My favorite soup from Ukrainian cuisine

First, add the beef to a pan with plenty of cold water to make a rich broth. Simmer for about 1.5 hours, skimming off any foam occasionally. I deliberately avoid using soup vegetables, as it’s a poor man’s dish, and my grandmother didn’t have them. She usually made the soup with just water and not meat broth. Let the beef cool, remove any fat and bones, and dice the meat. Boil the eggs until hard-boiled, about 8 minutes. Then rinse in cold water, peel, and roughly chop. Peel and dice the onions, and fry them in sunflower oil. When they are golden, add the tomato paste. Set aside. Peel and dice the potatoes, and set aside. Strain the broth through a sieve into another pot. Add the diced potatoes and cook until almost tender. Then add the fried onions and sorrel. Season to taste with salt, a pinch of sugar (to balance the acidity), and pepper, and simmer on low heat for about 1 hour. Of course, I prefer fresh sorrel. However, it’s hard to find (if you don’t have your own garden) and costs a fortune at the farmers’ market or in the small market hall, since you need a large amount. Canned sorrel is therefore a viable solution and available year-round. Finally, add the soup meat, the chopped eggs, and a bunch of chopped dill. Season again and let stand on the stove for another half hour to allow the borscht to infuse. Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream and fresh dill. Serve with fresh farmhouse bread. The soup tastes even better the next day! My recipe yields about 4.5 liters of soup.