Spring Beet soup (Polish Botwina)
There are hundreds versions of this very Polish soup. Here you have an original proposition of mine. I used to cook it on the base of my favorite duck and chicken stock. The cream is a must to create wonderful pink color. Optionally you may add a quarter or a half of hard boiled egg to your bowl. By the way, I change my recipe sometimes, for instance by adding dried California prunes instead of sugar, or by adding some white vinegar instead of lemon juice.
Yield
3 servingsPrep
10 minCook
40 minReady
50 minIngredients
| Amount | Measure | Ingredient | Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| for the stock | |||
| 1 | each |
duck
wing |
*
|
| 2 | each |
chicken wings
|
*
|
| 50 | grams |
leeks
green part or coarsely chopped green leaves |
|
| 1 | each |
parsnips
peeled |
*
|
| 5 | each |
juniper berries
crushed |
*
|
| 2 | each |
allspice berries
|
*
|
| ½ | teaspoon |
salt
|
|
| 800 | millilitres |
water
|
|
| For the soup | |||
| 250 | grams |
beets
spring beet inc. stems, leaves and very small roots |
|
| 1 | each |
potatoes
ca. 100 g, peeled, diced |
|
| 1 | each |
baby carrots
ca. 50 g, sliced |
|
| 1 | each |
scallions, spring or green onions
finely chopped inc. chives |
|
| ½ | cup |
dill weed
fresh, finely chopped |
*
|
| 1 | teaspoon |
lovage
dried, or 1 fresh sprig |
* |
| 1 | teaspoon |
marjoram
dried, or 1 fresh sprig |
*
|
| 1 | each |
bay leaves
medium |
*
|
| 1 | teaspoon |
lemon juice
|
|
| 2 | teaspoons |
brown sugar
|
|
| 6 | teaspoons |
cream
16% or 18% |
|
| 1 | x |
salt
|
*
|
| 1 | x |
black pepper
ground |
*
|
| 1 | each |
eggs
hard boiled, optionally |
|
Ingredients
| Amount | Measure | Ingredient | Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| for the stock | |||
| 1 | each |
duck
wing |
*
|
| 2 | each |
chicken wings
|
*
|
| 5E+1 | grams |
leeks
green part or coarsely chopped green leaves |
|
| 1 | each |
parsnips
peeled |
*
|
| 5 | each |
juniper berries
crushed |
*
|
| 2 | each |
allspice berries
|
*
|
| 2.5 | ml |
salt
|
|
| 8E+2 | millilitres |
water
|
|
| For the soup | |||
| 2.5E+2 | grams |
beets
spring beet inc. stems, leaves and very small roots |
|
| 1 | each |
potatoes
ca. 100 g, peeled, diced |
|
| 1 | each |
baby carrots
ca. 50 g, sliced |
|
| 1 | each |
scallions, spring or green onions
finely chopped inc. chives |
|
| 118 | ml |
dill weed
fresh, finely chopped |
*
|
| 5 | ml |
lovage
dried, or 1 fresh sprig |
* |
| 5 | ml |
marjoram
dried, or 1 fresh sprig |
*
|
| 1 | each |
bay leaves
medium |
*
|
| 5 | ml |
lemon juice
|
|
| 1E+1 | ml |
brown sugar
|
|
| 3E+1 | ml |
cream
16% or 18% |
|
| 1 | x |
salt
|
*
|
| 1 | x |
black pepper
ground |
*
|
| 1 | each |
eggs
hard boiled, optionally |
|
Directions
1 - Cook the stock in a pressure cooker for 20 minutes. 2 - Remove items, and skim fat. It is a good idea to prepare the stock a day before, then cool it, place it in the fridge, and remove fat from the surface next morning. 3 - Rinse spring beets, remove bad looking stems, cut off the oldest and yellowish leaves, gently scrape the beet roots. Chop the beet stems into 1 cm (half an inch) parts, chop the leaves, and slice the small roots finely. Prepare the rest of ingredients. 4 - Heat up the stock, add salt if needed, add potatoes, carrot, lovage, spring onion, bay leaf, and bring the stock to boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. 5 - Add roots, stems and leaves of beets, add dill, marjoram, sugar, and cook for the next 5 minutes. 6 - Stir in lemon juice, add salt and pepper to reach the optimal flavor. Have in mind the fact that the cream will soften the flavor of the soup. 7 - Add 2 teaspoon of cream to your bowl. Another option: you may stir in all the cream when soup is in the pot. When consuming the soup should have a nice pink color.
