Ukrainian Borsch [Recipe]

  Ukrainian borsch
Ukrainian borsch fully reflects the character of Ukrainian cuisine: this soup is hearty, fragrant, colorful, thick, and incredibly tasty. And by the way, it is very healthy because it contains a lot of root vegetables. Plus - the greens and garlic at the end of cooking!  In general, a real gift for the soul and body. Many people hesitate to cook Ukrainian borscht because of the long cooking time and a large number of nuances that must be taken into account. We hasten to calm down: our variant of Ukrainian borsch is quite simple in the performance, so even those who are making their first steps to culinary heights can cope with it.                                                                                                                                                         
INGREDIENTS
800 beef with large marrow from the hind leg or 1 kg of brisket on the bone
1 small onion
1 medium carrot
1 medium parsley root
medium bundle of parsley
1 bay leaf
pea pepper
salt
bacon crumbles and sour cream to serve
For the dressing:
2 small beets
1 large onion
2 medium carrots
3 medium potatoes
1 medium red bell bell pepper
Quarter of a small cabbage
4 medium ripe tomatoes
3 garlic cloves
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
ghee                   
 

STEP BY STEP RECIPE
Step 1
Prepare the broth for Ukrainian borscht. Put the meat in a large pot, pour water to cover the meat by 5 fingers. Bring to a boil and remove the foam. Reduce heat to low. Peel onion, carrot and parsley root, cut in half lengthwise and roast in a dry pan until brown. Add vegetables, peppers, parsley stalks (save leaves) to the meat. Cook for 2.5 hours. Put salt and bay leaf 15 minutes before the end.
Step 2.
Strain the broth. Remove the meat from the bones in small pieces, remove the marrow from the marrow.
Step 3 
For Ukrainian borscht dressing, peel all the vegetables. Finely chop the onion. Grate carrots and beets on a coarse grater. Pepper cut into small cubes. Dice potatoes into medium slices. Shred the cabbage. Grate tomatoes on a grater.                                   
 Step 4     
Put two frying pans on medium heat, in each melt the lard. In one, put the onion, in the other - beets. Fry, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add carrots and bell peppers to onions, vinegar to beets. Cook for 5 more minutes. Remove beets from heat, add tomatoes to onions and carrots. Cook for 5 more minutes.   S  Step 5
Boil borscht broth, put potatoes, boil for 10 minutes. Put the cabbage, boil for 5 minutes. Add beets and onions and carrots, bring to a boil, cook for 10 minutes.     
Step 6 
Finely chop the garlic with the parsley leaves, add to the borscht along with the meat and bone marrow. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, turn off the fire and insist Ukrainian borscht for 15 minutes. Serve with crushed lard and sour cream.             

USEFUL TIP
To make Ukrainian borscht thicker and richer, the potatoes can not be cut into cubes, as stated in the recipe, but rubbed on a coarse grater. The tomatoes can be replaced with a good tomato paste. 

CUSTOMS
In Ukraine there are different variants of borsch cooking. Sometimes the beets for dressing are first well fried in lard and only then added to it grated carrot, chopped onion and bell peppers. In this case, the borsch is not burgundy color, but orange-red.