Barszcz Wigilijny (Polish Christmas Eve Borscht) is a traditional Polish recipe for a classic soup of beetroot in a vegetable and bbtrot kvass base that's traditionally served topped with dumplings on Christmas Eve. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Polish version of: Polish Christmas Eve Borscht (Barszcz Wigilijny).
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Ingredients:
For the Soup Base:
2 carrots
a piece of leek (white part)
a piece of celeriac/or 1/2 celery stick
½ parsley root
2 sprigs of parsley leaves
1kg beetroot
½ sweet apple
1 medium onion
3 garlic cloves
10 black peppercorns
3 allspice berries
2 bay leaves
1 clove
½ star anise
2l water
Additionally:
500ml beet kvass
250ml mushroom stock (or use mushroom soaking liquid as leftover from preparing uszka dumplings)
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp dried marjoram
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
First day: Wash all the soup vegetables and beetroot. Peel the carrots, celeriac, parsley roots and beetroot (use gloves!), cut into 3-4cm pieces. Slice the leek in half then rinse the pieces thoroughly. Flame-roast the onion on a gas burner or cut in half, put the cut-side down in a small pan, heat over high heat until it's dark in colour.
Add all the vegetables into a large stock pot, add half an apple (with peel), and the peeled garlic cloves then pour in 2l cold water.
Cover with a lid and bring to a boil over very low heat (this should take about 20-30 minutes).
When the vegetable stock is boiling, add the peppercorns, bay leaves, allspice, clove, star anise and a teaspoon of salt. Simmer over a very low heat, covered, for about 2 hours.
Leave to cool, then set in your refrigerator over-night. Don’t strain the vegetables!
On the second day: Strain the soup base and discard the vegetables and spices.
Add the beet kvass and mushroom stock to the pan. Don't add it all at once. Your beet kvass can be more sour than mine (my beet kvass was fermented for 6 days, if you have left your beet kvass for longer it will have a stronger flavour and will be more sour).
Heat the borscht until very warm.
Season with the cider vinegar, rice vinegar and lemon juice (a little at a time) until you have a nice balance of sweet and sour. Try to season it to your personal taste. If you overdo it with vinegar or the soup is not sweet enough, you can add some powdered sugar.
Add the marjoram and at the end, season with salt and pepper to taste.
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