Cabbage soup with mushrooms and beans
Description
The soup is simple and quick to prepare. I should mention right away that you won't be able to make mushroom and bean borscht without prior preparation—both dried mushrooms and beans need to be soaked for at least 5 hours. So it's better to leave the cooking until morning; by lunchtime, the borscht will have nicely settled :) Now that both mushrooms and beans are ready, we can finally begin. Recipe for mushroom and bean borscht: 1. Wash, peel, and cut potatoes into cubes or sticks, as you prefer. Put a pot of water on the stove to boil. Meanwhile, sauté the potatoes in vegetable oil in a skillet until half-cooked, then transfer them to the boiling water. 2. Now prepare the remaining vegetables. Finely chop celery, carrots, and onion, or blend them in a food processor. Sauté them in the same skillet with the remaining oil used for the potatoes. 3. Once the onion turns golden, add this vegetable sauté to the broth along with any leftover oil. Add the mushrooms as well. Set a timer for 10 minutes and simmer over low heat. 4. Meanwhile, take a portion of the cooked beans and blend them in a food processor with a little broth (you can scoop it directly from the pot). 5. Add the resulting bean purée to the broth and cook everything together for another 3–5 minutes. Once it comes to a boil, turn off the heat and let it sit, covered, for several more minutes. Done! Serve garnished with the remaining whole beans and fresh herbs, and add a spoonful of sour cream. This classic Zakarpattia-style mushroom and bean borscht is traditionally cooked in a cauldron, but I'll tell you—it turns out just as good in a regular pot, so don't worry about that :) Ladle into bowls and serve.