Borscht & Piroshki

We've had a lot of beetroot in our vegetable box recently! And after not getting around to using them for a couple of weeks, I had a lot to try and use up and not all in its first freshness. Which says soup to me.

Paul was very sceptical when I mentioned making borscht. When he has had it before it has been a plain, thick, red puree. Which personally I like, but he doesn't, so I knew it had to be meatier and chunkier and altogether more substantial.

Beef Borscht (serves lots)

1tbs olive oil
150g smoked bacon lardons
500g cubed stewing beef
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1tsp dried dill
1tsp celery seeds
2 bay leaves
3 tbs sherry vinegar
500 ml beef stock
1kg beetroot, peeled and chopped
salt & pepper
bunch of parsley
sour cream to serve

In a very large saucepan, brown the lardons and beef in the olive oil. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Add the garlic, herbs, beef stock, vinegar and beetroot. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer on a low heat for about 3 hours or until everything is tender and delicious. Correct the seasoning, stir in a bunch of chopped parsley and serve with a dollop of sour cream.

I also decided to make some mushroom piroshki following this recipe but the pastry was such a bastard to work with that I lost patience and ended up only making a few. But the hot little mushroom pies were absolutely delicious, and worked very well with the earthy beef and beetroot flavour of the borscht.