Botvinya according to an old Russian recipe
Description
Hearty and aromatic soup. This cold soup is based on greens – any edible leaves: young beet tops, spinach, sorrel, nettle. Botvinya was traditionally served with salted or boiled sturgeon fish, or red fish; I added mackerel. Without fish, botvinya was considered incomplete. Serve with fresh herbs and sour cream.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
Gut the mackerel, rinse under cold water, remove the fins, and cut into large pieces.
- 2
Step 2
Pour in water, add bay leaf, allspice, salt, and dill. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, skim off the foam, and cook for 15–20 minutes. Remove fish pieces from the broth and remove the bones. Strain the broth; it can be used for preparing soups.
- 3
Step 3
Prepare the crayfish. Leave them in cold water for several hours beforehand to rinse off any remaining silt. Then rinse under running water and scrub with a brush.
- 4
Step 4
In a saucepan, bring water to a boil with dill, allspice, bay leaf, and salt (1 tablespoon per 1 liter of water). Add the crayfish to the boiling broth, bring to a boil again, then cook for 10-15 minutes. Remove the saucepan from heat and let the crayfish stand for another 10 minutes. Then transfer them onto a serving dish.
- 5
Step 5
Peel the boiled beet, wash the greens, stems, and cucumbers.
- 6
Step 6
Pour water over the greens, spinach, and sorrel, bring to a boil, and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Drain the broth and blend the greens.
- 7
Step 7
Grate the beetroot, chop the dill, slice the onion into thin strips, and cut the cucumbers into cubes.
- 8
Step 8
In a bowl, combine the beet greens purée, chopped vegetables, and herbs; pour in the sour kvass, and add salt and pepper to taste.
- 9
Step 9
Peel the cooled crayfish and remove the meat from the claws. Add the pieces of fish and crayfish to the botvinya.