Not Quite Borscht

I'm at home with an ear infection and I am bouncing off the walls. I would be bored except that I actually have homework I should be doing. But I'm lethargic enough to only do it in 20 minute bursts. The upside is, it's raining and freezing outside, the heater is on, and I had all the ingredients in my house to make borscht ie I will not be taking my slippers off or getting properly dressed at any stage today.

So borscht. The pink soup. It should be boring; the name basically has the word 'bore' in it and the ingredients are far from glamorous. It was a staple of Russian peasants for generations. And Russian peasants weren't known for their good times and joviality. No, they were miserable. But sometimes life is tricksy - see I for one would choose borscht over caviar any day of the week. Because borscht is hearty and wholesome and tasty. It is perfect food for the sick and grumpy who are on a budget. And perfect for Winter.

Ingredients

• Butter for frying, preferably unsalted
• Onion
• Left over fennel you found in the fridge (not traditionally in borscht, but tasty!)
• Beetroots (several big ones or 4-5 smaller ones)
• Cabbage (about a quarter head)
• Beef stock - one litre 
• Tarragon
• Lemon
• Yoghurt for serving

Prepare all your ingredients before you start. I don't always do this, but the beetroot will stain your hands and anything it touches, and since everything is going to be sliced in the exact same way, which is to say, thinly, it's easy to knock it all off at once.

Keep the onion and fennel seperated from the cabbage and beetroot; you'll want to soften the onion and fennel in your pot before adding the rest of the vegies. And you'll want to soften them in butter.

At this point you'll start feeling better from the smell alone. Once the onion and fennel are softened (about 5 minutes) add everything else. It will look enormous. It will look like too much food. But once the cabbage and beetroot start to heat up and wilt, they will squish right down.

Stir gently, as the vegetables down the bottom will be wilting nicely and you want to even that out so that there's room in the pot for your stock. You can make vegetarian borscht using a vegie stock, or just water, but to me a traditional borscht has beef stock. The beefy flavour offsets the beetroot really well and makes the whole thing seem extra hearty. In a perfect world you would use home-made stock, and so would I. But we're not perfect, we're busy working people who have ear infections. So we use the liquid stock we bought at the supermarket. I don't espouse one brand over another, Campbell's was just the one I happened to buy (it was probably the cheapest that didn't have artificial flavourings). Once you've added the stock, throw in a generous shake of dried tarragon and stir in.

Cover your pot and bring to the boil, then simmer 10 - 15 minutes. It wont need much longer than that.

Once you think it's about ready, add juice of half a lemon (or to taste) and you can add salt if you want, although I didnt. If your stock is halfway decent you wont need it. Serve it with a scoop of natural yoghurt.* Your borscht will be hot pink and steaming and delicious, so steaming and delicious in fact that you will not be able to photograph it clearly. Oh well. Consume.

* When you're serving, be sure to spill some all over the bench you cleaned only this morning. I did. Everything will be pretty in pink for the next little while AT NO EXTRA COST. Bargain.