Recipes · Polish · Soups and Broths

Barszcz Czerwony (Polish Clear Beetroot Soup with Uszka)

One serving has 369 kcal and 10 g protein, and at least a fifth of a woman's daily need of folate (88%), copper (82%), manganese (81%), pantothenic acid (50%), thiamin (40%) and vitamin A (40%). Ready in 170 minutes.

• Preparation: 90 min
• Cooking: 80 min
• Makes: 1 serving (920 g)
• Difficulty: Hard
• Diets: Vegetarian, Dairy-free
• Contains: celery, egg, gluten

Ingredients

• 220 g Beetroot
• 30 g Carrot
• 20 g Parsley root (or parsnip)
• 20 g Celeriac
• 15 g Leek
• 35 g Onion
• 7 g Dried mushrooms (porcini)
• 510 g Water
• 0.1 g Bay leaf
• 0.3 g Allspice
• 0.2 g Black pepper
• 3 g Garlic
• 0.3 g Marjoram, dried
• 3 g Sugar
• 12 g Lemon juice (or beetroot sour, zakwas)
• 0.5 g Salt
• 30 g Flour, all-purpose
• 6 g Egg
• 5 g Rapeseed oil
• 3 g Breadcrumbs

Method

1. Rinse the dried mushrooms, cover them with a little of the water and leave them to soak for 1 hour, then simmer them in the same water for 30 minutes until soft. Lift them out and keep the liquid.
2. Meanwhile peel the carrot, parsley root, celeriac and most of the onion, cut them into pieces with the leek and simmer them in most of the remaining water with the bay leaf, allspice and pepper for 30 minutes.
3. Peel the beetroot, slice it thinly and add it with the mushroom liquid, poured off carefully so any grit stays behind. Simmer gently for 30 minutes, until the broth is deep red; hard boiling dulls the colour.
4. For the uszka filling, chop the mushrooms very finely. Fry the rest of the onion, finely chopped, in the oil for 6-8 minutes until golden, add the mushrooms and fry for 2-3 minutes more, then stir in the breadcrumbs, a pinch of salt and pepper, and leave to cool.
5. Knead the flour with the egg, a pinch of salt and the last of the water, lukewarm, into a smooth dough and let it rest for 20 minutes. Roll it out very thinly, cut it into 4 cm squares and put a little filling on each. Fold each into a triangle and pinch the edges shut, then bring the two long corners together and press them into a little ear.
6. Cook the uszka in boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes after they rise to the surface, then lift them out.
7. Strain the barszcz, keeping only the clear broth. Add the crushed garlic, the marjoram, the sugar, the lemon juice and the rest of the salt: it should taste sweet and sour. Heat it until it steams, without letting it boil.
8. Put the uszka in warm bowls and ladle the hot barszcz over them. It is the first dish of the Polish Christmas Eve supper.

Nutrition per serving

Shares of a day's need are for a woman of 30, 165 cm, 60 kg, lightly active, by the US and Canadian Dietary Reference Intakes. SustainBite works out each person's own needs, by the standard where they live: the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations in Norway, the UK's, EFSA's in the EU.

Climate footprint

0.2 kg CO2e a serving: lower than most main dishes on SustainBite. Source: ADEME, Agribalyse 3.2.

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