Recipe of the week: beet borscht

Beet borscht taken from The Gluten-Free Cookbook by Cristian Broglia

Borscht is a beloved dish in many countries in eastern Europe, says Cristian Broglia. The distinguishing feature of a Ukrainian borscht is red beets, which give the soup its characteristic flavour and beautiful burgundy colour.

Serves four people

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455g beef strip steak (sirloin), cut into 5cm chunks
5 black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 onion, chopped
300g red beets, peeled and diced
1 white turnip, diced
200g diced peeled celeriac
200g sliced cabbage
2 carrots, diced
1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
sea salt
1 tbsp tomato purée, dissolved in a little warm water

to serve:

4 tbsp Greek yogurt
½ tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Method

In a soup pot, combine the beef, peppercorns, bay leaves, and 950ml of cold water. Bring to a boil over a medium-high heat, then reduce to a simmer and cook until reduced by one-third, about 45mins.
Discard the bay leaves. Add the onion, beets, turnip, celeriac, cabbage, carrots, sugar, vinegar, and salt to taste. Cover and simmer until the vegetables are soft, about 30mins.
Remove the meat chunks and divide them among soup bowls. Stir the tomato purée mixture into the soup and simmer for 5mins over high heat.
Pour the vegetables and broth over the meat. Top each serving with a tablespoon of yoghurt and some chopped parsley.
Tip: if the beets come with greens, remove them and rinse well. Cut into shreds and add to the soup, then boil until tender for 3mins.

Taken from The Gluten-Free Cookbook by Cristian Broglia, published by Phaidon at £35. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £27.99, visit theweekbookshop.co.uk.