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Botwinka
Botwinka: early-summer soup of young beetroot, stalks and leaves with sour cream and dill
June markets in Kraków and Tarnów are piled with bunches of baby beetroot still wearing their leaves, and those bunches go straight into botwinka. The whole plant is used: the small roots, the rosy stalks and the greens, simmered quickly so the soup stays bright pink and fresh-tasting rather than earthy. It is finished with sour cream, lots of dill and a squeeze of lemon, and often eaten with new potatoes and a halved boiled egg. A common mistake is boiling it for too long, which turns the leaves khaki and dulls the colour. Chef's tip: add the lemon juice before the cream; the acid locks in the ruby colour.
- Total time
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 1 bunch young beetroot with leavesabout 500 g, roots, stalks and leaves separated
- ½ oz butter
- 1 onionfinely chopped
- 1 carrotdiced
- 10 ½ oz new potatoesdiced
- 5 cups vegetable stock
- 1 garlic clovecrushed
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
- ¾ cup sour cream
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- 4 tbsp fresh dillchopped
- 2 hard-boiled eggs (optional)halved, to serve
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Peel and dice the small 1 bunch young beetroot with leaves roots, slice the stalks into 1 cm pieces and shred the leaves. Keep the leaves apart.
8 minStep 3: Add the diced beetroot, 10 ½ oz new potatoes and 5 cups vegetable stock. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 12 minutes, until the potatoes are just tender when pierced.
12 minStep 4: Stir in the beetroot stalks and leaves and 1 garlic clove and simmer for 3–4 minutes, until the leaves have wilted but are still green.
4 minStep 5: Add 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt and 1 pinch black pepper, then taste: it should be gently sweet-sour.
1 minStep 6: Whisk ¾ cup sour cream with 1 tbsp plain flour in a bowl, stir in a ladle of hot soup, then pour the mix back into the pan. Heat for 2 minutes on low without boiling, until slightly thickened.
3 minStep 7: Stir in 4 tbsp fresh dill and serve with 2 hard-boiled eggs on top if you like.
1 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 200 kcal
- Protein
- 6 g
- Carbs
- 25 g
- Fat
- 8 g
- Fibre
- 5 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does botwinka take?
- About 40 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
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