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
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
- 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.
-
Has ‘poppy politics’ got out of hand?Talking Point ‘Toxic’ debate over red and white poppies is another front in the culture wars
-
Vladimir Putin’s ‘nuclear tsunami’ missileIn The Spotlight Russian president has boasted that there is no way to intercept the new weapon
-
Sudoku hard: November 11, 2025The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
-
6 homes with fall foliagefeature An autumnal orange Craftsman, a renovated Greek Revival church and an estate with an orchard
-
Bugonia: ‘deranged, extreme and explosively enjoyable’Talking Point Yorgos Lanthimos’ film stars Emma Stone as a CEO who is kidnapped and accused of being an alien
-
The Revolutionists: a ‘superb and monumental’ bookThe Week Recommends Jason Burke ‘epic’ account of the plane hijackings and kidnappings carried out by extremists in the 1970s
-
Film reviews: ‘Bugonia,’ ‘The Mastermind’ and ‘Nouvelle Vague’feature A kidnapped CEO might only appear to be human, an amateurish art heist goes sideways, and Jean-Luc Godard’s ‘Breathless’ gets a lively homage
-
Book reviews: ‘Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity’ and ‘Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice’feature An examination of humanity in the face of “the Machine” and a posthumous memoir from one of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, who recently died by suicide
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago
-
Salted caramel and chocolate tart recipeThe Week Recommends Delicious dessert can be made with any biscuits you fancy
-
6 trailside homes for hikersFeature Featuring a roof deck with skyline views in California and a home with access to private trails in Montana
