Borscht with Bacon

⏳ Time

40 minutes

🥕 Ingredients

🍽️ Servings

Description

The main ingredient of this Kuban borscht is cured bacon, which locals refer to as 'old' or 'stale.' No matter how those descriptions might sound to an unaccustomed ear, the warm, rich, meaty aroma of the borscht has nothing to do with them. This borscht will be excellent not only on beef broth but also on chicken broth.

Ingredients

Beef chuck roast - 2 lbs
Beetroot - 1 piece
Tomatoes - 2 lbs
Potato - 6 pieces
Onion - 3 heads
Lard - 2.5 oz
Salt - 1 tablespoon
Bay leaf - 3 pieces
White Cabbage - 2 lbs
Sweet Pepper - 2 pieces
Parsley - 1 bunch

Step by Step guide

Step 1

Place the brisket in a five-liter pot, cover it with cold water up to the brim, and put it on the heat. When the water is actively boiling, skim off the foam, reduce the heat, and simmer with the lid on for an hour and a half. During this time, enough liquid will evaporate to make room for the vegetables.

Step 2

After an hour and a half, remove the meat and let it cool down — once it's no longer scorching hot, cut it into small pieces and return it to the pot.

Step 3

Meanwhile, grate one medium beet and add it to the broth.

Step 4

Peel and chop the potatoes, and add them to the pot. Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water, remove their skins, chop them finely, and add to the soup.

Step 5

Chop the onion and bacon into small pieces, then grind them together through a meat grinder. Add 4-5 tablespoons of the resulting mixture to the soup, along with salt and a bay leaf, and stir into the boiling liquid.

Step 6

Slice two bell peppers, preferably thin-skinned green ones, into thin strips. Add them to the soup.

Step 7

Finely chop the parsley and shred the cabbage into thin long strips. When the potatoes are almost ready, add the greens and cabbage to the soup, and as soon as it begins to boil again, remove the borscht from the heat. The beauty of this borscht—and not the only one—is that the cabbage remains crunchy instead of becoming mushy.