Name: Vegetarian borscht
Yield: Makes 19 cups (4.75 l); 8 main-course servings
Cuisine: Russian
Ingredients: 1 ounce (30 g) dried porcini mushrooms (cèpes); 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; ½ pound (225 g) white mushrooms, trimmed, wiped clean, and sliced ¼ inch (.5 cm) thick; 1 large onion, cut into ¼-inch (.5-cm) dice; 10 small or 7 to 8 medium beets, trimmed (about 1½ pounds; 675 g), with greens, peeled, quartered, and cut across into ¼-inch (.5-cm) slices; 2 medium carrots, peeled and cut across into ¼-inch (.5-cm) rounds; 1 medium parsnip, peeled and cut across into ¼-inch (.5-cm) rounds; 1 very small or ½ large celery root (about ¾ pound; 360 g), peeled and cut into ½-inch (1-cm) cubes; 1½ pounds (675 g) mashing potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch (1-cm) cubes; ½ small white cabbage (about ¾ pound; 360 g), cored and shredded; 3 large cloves garlic, smashed, peeled, and very finely chopped; 3 tablespoons tomato paste; 1 medium bunch dill, fronds only, coarsely chopped; ¼ cup (50 g) sugar; ½ cup (125 ml) cider vinegar; 2 tablespoons kosher salt; Freshly ground black pepper, to taste; Boiled potatoes, optional; Sour cream; Coarsely chopped dill

Preparation info

Makes 19 cups 4.75 l ;
8
main-course servings

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Soup

By Barbara Kafka

Published 1998

About

There are many different kinds of borscht. The very first recipe I wrote for print was an attempt to make one that my father spoke. This borscht takes into account the many fasting days on the old Russian calendar and also the Jews who liked to use sour cream but couldn’t include it if the soup had a meat base. The flavor is still so intense that I don’t miss the meat.

If the beets are nice and small and the