From Gordon’s Borscht
(adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s Healthy Appetite)
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 medium beets, peeled and sliced
- 1/4 red cabbage, sliced
- 3 1/2 cups beef stock (reduced sodium)
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1/2 tbsp dried dill
- 1 tsp white sugar
- fresh dill to garnish
- 1/4 cup balkan yogourt
Preparation
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan and add onion, celery, carrot and thyme. Cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes. Add the beets and cabbage and a splash of water. Stir well, then cover and cook 10-12 minutes until the vegetables are just tender, stirring mixture every few minutes so it doesn’t stick to the pan. Pour in stock to cover the vegetables. Add red wine vinegar, dried dill and sugar, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Cook 5-10 minutes until vegetables are tender. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
Scoop about half of the soup into a blender and puree until smooth, then return to the pot and mix back in with the chunky vegetables.
Serve in bowls with yogourt and fresh dill, with bread and cucumbers to accompany.
I assume, it’s some kind of Gordon’s interpretation of Ukrainian “borsch”. seems delicious. But if you may be curious, the original “borsch” recipe excludes any kind of vinegar, celery, sugar,thyme or olive oil. and includes: fresh tomatoes (choped and sauted), or tomato paste, white cabage(instead of red), potatoes, garlic(a bit), and sometimes white(or red) beans and sunflower oil. We don’t puree that soup, we serve it in at least 1 hour as it’s done (to let it infuse with all the aromas and taste) with sour cream and fresh greens(usually it’s dill+parsley 1:1). When it cools down, put it in a fridge for the night and tomorrow it will taste even better. This is not a restaurent dish, it’s homemade but still very complex and “sensitive” in terms of proportions.