The Borscht is the most amazing soup on earth. Made with very simple ingredients it tastes like good old things. I simply love it.

Its origins are Ukranian and it is spread throughout Russian countries, with number of variations.

The secret for a good borscht is a good broth – this is what my ukranian friends said to me. You can make a broth with pork or beef. I picked the first – since the humble origins of the plate made me feel cheaper pieces of pork were much easier to be found on a poor family table compared with beef. Up to you.

My friend told me that you should keep half of the beetroot (once grated) in red wine vinegar for half hour using them (very well drained). Other say that without Kvas (a fermented sort of liquor made with fruits) there is no borscht. But this is quite impossible to define, it is like a Tiramisù in Italy: 60 million families, 60 million recipes.  : )

I made it relatively easier: the recipe below is to be made in 2 times. First you make the broth then the borscht. I asked my friend if I could use vinegar directly without making any infusion – she agreed. LOL.

So let’s go with this Ukranian borscht!

For the broth

5 pork ribs

250 grams pork shoulder or neck meat

2 carrots

2 celery stalks

1 big onion

2 garlic cloves

2 tbs tomato paste

20 grams dill

2 bay leaves

olive oil

salt and pepper

For the borsch

1 onion

2 carrots

1 celery stalk

1 garlic clove

250 grams celery root (grated)

800 grams beetroot (grated)

400 grams cabbage (finely sliced)

2 tbs tomato paste (or ketchup if you run out of it!)

red wine vinegar

salt and pepper

To serve

Sour cream

Chopped dill

TO MAKE THE BROTH

Heat the oil in a casserole. Fry the meat on high heat until brown.

Add the onion, the carrot, the garlic and the celery all diced. Add 1 tsp of salt a 1 tsp of pepper.

Fry for 5 minutes.

Add the tomato paste and fry for further 2 minutes.

Add the dill roughly chopped, the bay leaves and 3 liters of water. Let simmer for 3 hours.

Drain with a colander and put the broth in a container-let it cool completely and put into the refrigerator until the fats become cold and hard. Retain the fat and keep in a air tight container (you will use it for the second part).

NOTE: if you want to use the broth straight ahead, then skim the fat off as much as you can and use 3 tbs of olive oil to fry the vegetables when you make the borsch.

Separate and clean the meat and the vegetables and cut the meat into small pieces (discard the vegetables). Keep the meat in a container (or freeze it along with the broth), until you make the borsch.

TO MAKE BORSCH

Now, melt in a casserole half of the fat retained from the broth (or the olive oil). Fry the onion, the garlic, the carrot and the celery (all finely sliced) for 7/8 minutes. Add the tomato paste, fry for further 2 minutes.

Add the meat (retained from the broth), and the remaining grated vegetables (beetroots, celery root, carrots and cabbage), fry for a couple of minutes and add the broth. Simmer for 20 minutes (or until the vegetables are cooked through).

NOTE: The vegetables must be cooked and still compact, a sort of ‘al dente’, be careful not to overcook them.

Now add little by little the vinegar enough to balance the sweetness of the vegetables (you will need approximately 1/4 of a cup – but all is depending on your taste, add it little by little to make sure you reach the sourness you like – I like it sour).

Serve in individual soup bowl, accompanied by a tbs of sour cream and a pinch of freshly chopped dill.

600 grams bell pepers (red and yellow)

1 tbs salt capers

3 anchovies in oil fillets

1 big onion

150 ml tomato puree

1 garlic clove finely minced (if you like)

6/7 fresh basil leaves

4 tbs olive oil

350 grams mezzemaniche wholegrain pasta

Extra olive oil for serving
Slice the onion into thin slices. Fry them with the garlic, chopped capers and anchovies into the pre-heated oil in a large pan.

Meanwhile slice the bell pepper into half centimeter sticks.

Add them to the fried onion and let simmer for 5 minutes at high heat.

Reduce heat and continue cooking for further 10 minutes.

Add the tomato puree, half glass of water and simmer medium hear for further 10/15 minutes until the bell peppers are cooked through and the sauce thickens. Add the basil and retain from fire.

Cook the pasta as per direction (usually I always do 1 minute less then directions). Drain the pasta and add it to the pan, mix it well and high heat. Retain from fire, add 2 or 3 tbs of olive oil. Serve.

I miss Spring, above all during those winter cold days when the sun feels warmer than usual. This is the starting point of this february table set upo, created with Gianmario Negri.

To make this recipe you will need very few ingredients:

– one tank in wood (you can use recycled pallet wood boards, nailed together), adjusted to the size of your table a 20 cm wide and 20 cm high

– small cactuses, real of plastic ones as you wish. You will need circa 12/15 plants per meter of tank. Plus 1 small cactus for each guest

– fresh moss (easily found at gardening stores)

– Slices of a trunk (4/5 cm thick each), one per guest – you can easily find these at gardening stores

– decoration chains or similar (or kitchen twine) to close the napkins

– Old newspapers

The tank should be positioned in the center of the table – allow circa 50/60 cm per guest. Fill the tank with the newspaper paper. Position the cactuses above the paper and make sure that each cactus is elevated from the bottom of the tank). Fill the spaces between the small plants with some more newspaper paper and cover everything with some pieces of moss. Position the filled-in tanks on the center of the table.

Position the slices of trunk and use them as underplates. Set the table as usual. Position on the top left the individual cactuses (you can put them in small cermaic containers or cover them with some wood bark if available). And Spring will feel closer!

Make 1 kg circa

500 grams all-purpose flour

250 grams butter (diced)

a pinch of salt

4 dl cold water

Put all ingredients in a container and add the cold water slowly, to bind the dough together. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate per 30 mins before use.