My Own Quick, Easy and Inexpensive Borscht Soup.

Serves: 4 – 6.  Prep & cook: 40 – 60 min. Can be divided in to portions and stored in the freezer.

Russians and others from Eastern Europe may throw their hands up in horror, but this is my own quick version, using ingredients I usually have in the fridge or after a wander to the local greengrocers.

It’s inexpensive to make and great for storing in the freezer. Also, I make no apologies for the use of ready prepared stock, garlic and chilli paste etc. – it saves time and makes life easy. I use a multi-cooker but a pan that can hold at least 2 litres of water plus the ingredients is just as good.

Remember, soup-making is not rocket science – there is always room for adjustments according to taste.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 litres of water
• 200 ml chopped tomatoes – I use a carton/can of pre-chopped tomatoes in juice without any added ingredients
• 1 onion
• 1 medium potato
• ½ cabbage – I like to use a Savoy, but it depends on what you have available
• 1 large carrot
• 2-3 beetroot, ready cooked
• 2 Knorr vegetable stock pots – You can use other stock cubes.
• 5 cardamom pods – cracked open but not ground
• 3 Kaffir lime leaves (can be left out – or try another substitute such as coriander or bay leaves)
• ½ tsp garlic paste – I use tubes of the ready-crushed sort
• ½ ts. chilli paste – again I use tubes of the ready-crushed sort
• Salt – I don’t bother adding because the stockpots are already quite salty–the choice is yours
• Topping: a generous dollop of sour cream 

METHOD:

• Add water to a large pan and bring to boiling point, then, add the chilli, garlic, tomatoes, lime leaves, stock pots or cubes, cardamom pods & salt if required. Stir well and leaver to simmer on medium-heat.
• As the large pan is simmering, chop the onion and sauté until soft in another pan, then add to the large pan.
• Chop the cabbage, potatoes, beetroot and carrot–I tend to like my vegetables a little lumpy, but if you prefer small cubes of veg. then that’s fine. Now add these to the contents in the large pan.
• Stir well, put the lid on and leave to simmer for at least 30 minutes–check and stir occasionally. If the water is evaporating too quickly, the contents will burn so, add more water if necessary.
• Once the vegetables are soft, leave the contents of the large pan to cool. Leaving it a few hours allows the flavours to blend in nicely. However, you can eat straight away, before cooling.
• Can be toped with dollop of sour cream.
• Serve with crusty bread.

I like to pot the soup up into small freezer containers for future use.