Vegetable borscht

Prep time: 15 minutes, plus chilling time Cook time: 45 minutes

Serves 6

It seems fitting to cook one thing this Christmas that’s Ukrainian, and borscht is the national dish. This vegetarian version will surprise you; I would never have believed it could be so good. The vegetables just do it all. A pot made on Boxing Day tastes even better the next day.

INGREDIENTS

– 25g butter –2tbspoil

– 1 medium onion,

finely chopped

– 1 stick celery, diced

– 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced

– 1 medium carrot,

peeled and grated

– 1 red pepper, halved,

deseeded and diced – ½ medium head white cabbage, core removed,

leaves shredded

– 1 large beetroot,

peeled and grated

– 3 new potatoes, peeled and cut into 1.5cm cubes

– 3 generous tbsp

tomato purée

– 1 tsp sweet paprika – large pinch of cayenne

pepper

– 2 bay leaves

– 2 large garlic cloves,

grated to a purée – juice of 1 large lemon – 3 tsp caster sugar (you

can add more or less) – sour cream, to serve

– 3 tbsp each of finely

chopped dill and parsley

– 4 spring onions,

trimmed and chopped

METHOD

Heat the butter and oil in a large saucepan. Tumble in the onion and sauté it over a medium heat until it begins to colour, about 7 minutes. Add the celery, apple, carrot, pepper and cabbage and sauté them over a mediumlow heat until they begin to soften, 12-15 minutes. Don’t let the vegetables get too dark, they should be golden.

Stir in the beetroot and potato and add 1.8 litres of water. Bring to just under the boil, turn the heat down to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 12 minutes.

Put the tomato purée in a bowl and stir in some of the broth from the soup. Add this mixture to the soup along with some seasoning, the spices, bay leaves and garlic.

Cook for another 7 minutes so the flavours can meld. Stir in the lemon juice and sugar to taste. The soup should be sweet-sour and a little hot. It will get better as it sits, so let this cool and put it in the fridge, covered.

Heat the soup, ladle

into bowls, top with a big spoonful of sour cream and sprinkle with the herbs and the spring onions. Serve

with bread.