Borsch with beans

Ingredients:

• 100g. dried haricot beans
• 1/2 carrot, grated
• 1/2 stick celery, chopped
• 1/2 parsnip, grated
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1.8l. water
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• Pepper and salt
• Fresh parsley, celery, and lovage leaves, chopped finely
• 1 spoon borsch powder (or lemon juice)

First, the dried beans must be soaked overnight in plenty of water before you even think of starting to deal with them. Although so tiny-looking, these beans can be incredibly tough and they need cooking for at least 1.5 hours.

The beans having been soaked, you boil them in plenty of water for about ¾ hour, and then you drain them thoroughly, cover them with 1.8 litres water and boil them again for another ½-hour or more until they soften. When they are ready, add the chopped vegetable (apart from the onion) and the fresh herbs.

While these are cooking, fry the onion: in a separate pan, heat up 1 spoonful of oil, add the chopped onion and cook until softened (5-7 minutes). Then add the tomato paste and 1 spoon of soup liquid and mix them with the onion.

When the vegetables are cooked, add 1 levelled spoon borsch powder, salt, pepper, and the onion mixture. Stir well, cook for another 3 minutes and serve. Garnish with the fresh parsley.

Borsch and bean soup is suitable for vegetarians.

Source: Theotherdelia.co.uk

Borsch with beans