I have to confess to a soft spot for Eastern European food - my great grandfather was Russian, I hold a Pole very close to my heart and have spent some months in the motherland. I can’t say I love it all, pork fat, dirty snow and kasha can stay right away, but I adore springtime on the banks of the Neva, dancing in old palaces, pirogi (a cross between a meat dumpling and a tortellini), and most especially beetroot - so when a juicy bunch arrived in the veg box last week I knew what had to be made - borscht, the king of soups!

You need an afternoon to make this soup, preferably a frosty/rainy one in which you pop out and get good and cold before eating.

Ingredients
Recipe (slightly adapted) from www.cookuk.co.uk/ethnic/russian/borsch.htm

600g betroot (fresh or vacuum packed)
1 med onion
2 small potatoes
2 med tomatoes
250g beef cubes (stewing steak is ideal)
1 big clove garlic
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 lemon
1/4 white cabbage
1 med carrot
small pot soured cream
dill (fresh or dried)
parsley, S&P, butter

Serves 3 generously

1 If using fresh beetroot, heat oven to 170 degrees, wash beetroots and cut off all but an inch of the tops (leave the tails intact), wrap loosely in two layers of foil and pop in the oven for 3 hours. After 1 1/4 hours (or, if using pre-cooked beetroots start at step 2)…
2 Chop onion into slices (thin half rings) and chop dill finely. Put Beef, 2 litres of cold water, the chopped onion and dill into a pan, cover and bring to the boil. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
3 After 1 1/4 hours peel carrots, chop into half moons and saute gently for 15 mins in butter with the garlic crushed into it.
4 Whilst the carrots are cooking take out the beetroots, cool under the tap and peel off skin with your fingers (it should just slip off - I have been known to use surgical gloves to avoid the staining). Chop these, or your pre-cooked ones into strips. Chop tomatoes into small cubes. Chop cabbage into thin strips
5 Check beef broth for scum (remove with spoon)
6 Add beetroot, carrots, cabbage and tomatoes to beef broth (this is where it goes purple and begins too look like it should). S&P generously. Cook for 10 minutes
7 Chop parsley, wedge lemons and put on table with soured cream for diners to finish the soup to their liking. Add vinegar to pot, mix and serve in deep bowls with hunks of bread on the table.

Note: this soup is practically a stew you won’t need more for a very filling and excellently healthy dinner (tons of veg, protein from the beef and a little bit of fat from the creme fraiche).