Polish Red Barszcz
by Marta Lejkowski

This is my family recipe that has been the life of the party and holiday celebrations many times over

Beet is a very tasty root vegetable that “bleeds” very heavily and stains everything in sight when it is being cut up.  So be careful while preparing this soup; use a dark colored apron and have dark colored kitchen towels at hand.  This recipe will make a full pot of soup (about 8 servings).

 Ingredients

4 medium sized beets with the leaves still on
4 medium sized potatoes
2 cubes of vegetable stock
2 onions
1 garlic bulb
1 teaspoon of vinegar (apple or regular), quantity depending on taste
fresh dill (about 1 teaspoon or depending on taste)
salt and pepper
½ cup to 1 cup of sour cream

Wash, peel, and cut up the beets and potatoes into small cubes.  Chop up the leaves from 3 beets (discard the rest or save it for another soup) into small strips.  Slice the onions and garlic finely. Put all the ingredients except the sour cream into a large pot and fill it with water.  Boil for about 1 ½ hours or until the beets are very soft.  The longer it cooks the better it will be: you cannot overcook this soup.  Before serving, either put the sour cream into the soup pot, or spoon some into each serving bowl.

You can substitute yogurt for sour cream, but that would not be a very Polish thing to do.

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(This page last updated April 24, 2001)