Christmas red borscht or beet soup – really worth the time and effort!
Christmas red borscht or beet soup with dumplings might take a bit of time and more than two hands to make but is really worth it. I make it every year but never wrote about it. Finally, I got inspired to write down the recipe by a very informative blog post and obviously made it into a 5-element one for the best flavour. So, let’s go!
It is a good idea to prepare the soup and the mushroom filling the night before. The flavours will blend and you will get the most of it.
To make the pasta for the dumplings
Sift the flour onto a work surface, make a well in the middle and add:
- Sour 300g plain wheat flour,
- Bitter a pinch of turmeric, with your fingers mix it in the flour,
- Sweet 3 eggs,
- Pungent a pinch of ginger,
- Salty 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
Once all the above ingredients are together ‘chop’ and stir them with a knife. The eggs will mix into the flour and you will avoid getting your hands sticky. When all the ingredients combine, rub your hands with some flour and start kneading the dough. Knead for about 3-4 minutes until smooth and elastic. Dust a small fragment of the working surface with some flour, put the dough ball on it and cover with a bowl. Leave to rest for 20-30 minutes.
Divide the dough ball into 4 parts and roll each thin. Using a drink glass, cut circles of about 6-7cm in diameter. Put 1 teaspoon of filling in the middle, fold the dough circle in a half and pinch the edges together. Once it’s done, fold the dumpling gently and pinch the ends together to form a tortellini shape.
To make the mushroom filling
In a small pan add 2-3 tablespoons of dried wild mushrooms and 1/2 cup of cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer at low heat for about 15 minutes. Turn the heat off and keep it at hand.
Wash and chop 450g of mushrooms.
Heat up a large frying pan or a skillet and add the following:
- Sweet 2 tablespoons of oil, 2 finely chopped onions – fry until translucent, chopped mushrooms – fry stirring frequently until the liquid evaporates,
- Pungent a generous pinch of black pepper,
- Salty a generous pinch of salt,
- Sour a squeeze of lemon juice,
- Bitter a pinch of turmeric,
To make the borscht
Wash all the vegetables. Do not peel or cut them. Apart from the beetroots which you need to quarter.
Use a large, tall pot. Add the ingredients in the following order:
- Sweet 2-3 carrots, 1 parsnip, 4-5 beetroots, mushrooms together with the water they were boiled in,
- Pungent 1/4 celeriac, 1 leek cut into halves, about 10 whole black peppercorns, 5-6 allspice berries, 2,5 cm (1 inch) long piece of ginger root cut into halves, 2-3 bay leaves, 3-4 unpeeled garlic cloves, 1 onion cut into halves, 2-3 cloves,
- Salty 1 tablespoon of sea salt, 2 litres (4 pints) of cold water.
- Sour juice of 1/2 lemon,
- Bitter a pinch of lovage and ½ teaspoon of turmeric.
Bring the soup to a rolling boil and turn the heat down to very low heat. Simmer for about 30-40 minutes. When it is done add:
- Sweet 1-2 tablespoons of mild tasting oil.
The final stage
Boil a large pan of 1/3 full of water with a teaspoon of salt. Cook the dumplings in batches for 1-2 minutes of when they float on the top.
Arrange 7-8 dumplings on individual serving plates and pour hot soup in. Serve immediately.
Christmas red borscht or beet soup is usually so popular that it needs to be followed by a main course. Otherwise, you would need to allow at least 20 dumplings per person.
For other Christmas ideas check dried apples or apple crisps.
