Borscht with Bacon
Start with the beets, because that’s where this soup is won or lost: 400 g (about 14 oz), sliced and braised on their own in a little broth with fat and a spoonful of vinegar. The acid stabilizes betanin, the pigment that fades to brown when beets are simply boiled in the pot, which is why this version stays ruby instead of brick.
The broth does double duty. The bacon simmers in a bone stock made ahead, so its smoke runs through the whole pot rather than sitting in the bowl as one lonely slice. Then, just before serving, the strained beet braising liquid is reheated and poured in — a last hit of color and tang that never gets a chance to cook away.
Timing matters: cabbage goes in alone for 15 minutes, then the potatoes and the root vegetables sautéed with tomato purée for another 15. The flour thickener is toasted in butter and must be thinned with hot broth until it pours freely; dropped in as a paste it seizes into lumps you’ll spend the meal chasing.
Smoked brisket or pork ribs stand in for the bacon. Finish each bowl with smetana — full-fat cultured sour cream, or crème fraîche if that’s what your shop stocks — chopped herbs, and rye bread rubbed with a raw garlic clove.
Part of Ukrainian cuisine — 464 more recipes in the section.
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Ingredients
Instructions
Cook the bacon in a bone broth you've prepared in advance.
Slice the peeled beets and braise them in a little broth with the fat, adding the vinegar.
Slice the carrots, parsley, and onion and lightly saute them with the tomato puree.
Cut the cabbage into squares and the potatoes into cubes.
Add the cabbage to the strained hot broth, cook for 15 minutes, then add the sauteed root vegetables, onion, and potatoes and cook for another 15 minutes.
Toward the end of cooking, add the braised beets and the flour, sauteed in butter and thinned with broth; season with salt, sugar, and vinegar.
At the very end, just before serving, pour in the strained, reheated beet stock.
To serve, place a piece of bacon, sour cream, and fresh herbs in each bowl of borscht.
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