Borscht with Sour Cream

Ingredients

• 4 onions
• 200 g carrots (2 carrots)
• 2 stalks celery
• 1 stalk leek
• 350 g cabbage
• 100 g mushrooms
• 0.5 bunch Parsley (10 g)
• 2 Garlic cloves
• 4 juniper berries
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt
• Pepper
• 500 g beetroot
• 1 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tsp Honey
• 200 g white cabbage
• 0.5 bunch chives (10 g)
• 2 tbsp Sour cream

Instructions

1. 1.

   Peel and quarter 2 onions. Peel carrots and cut into pieces. Wash, trim, and chop celery and leek. Peel cabbage and cut into small pieces. Clean mushrooms and quarter them. Wash parsley, shake dry, and roughly chop. Separate garlic cloves.

2. 2.

   Add onions, carrots, 150 g celery, leek, mushrooms, parsley, one garlic clove, juniper berries, and bay leaf to a pot. Pour in 1.5 liters of water, bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat for about 1.5 hours. Season with salt and pepper. Finally strain the broth and reserve it.

3. 3.

   Peel beetroot and cut into bite‑sized pieces. Dice remaining onions. Finely chop another garlic clove. In a large pot melt butter, sauté onions and garlic over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Add beetroot and remaining celery, cooking another 3 minutes. Pour in broth until vegetables are covered. Add vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper, then simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes.

4. 4.

   Clean white cabbage and finely shred it or cut into thin strips. Add to the pot with the beetroot mixture and pour a little more broth so everything is covered again. Bring to a boil and simmer for another 20 minutes, adding more broth if needed. Season with vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper. Wash chives and shake dry.

5. 5.

   Serve on plates, garnishing the borscht with sour cream and chives.