Mushroom Borscht Recipe: Vegan Lenten Ukrainian Borscht with Beans

Name: Mushroom Borscht Recipe: Vegan Lenten Ukrainian Borscht with Beans
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Ukrainian cuisine
Ingredients: Boiled wild mushrooms 100 g; White beans 0.5 cup; Red beets 1; White cabbage 100 g; Onion 1; Parsnip 50 g; Carrot 1; Tomato paste, pickle brine or sauerkraut brine Optional; Vegetable (Lenten) oil 2 tbsp; Dill 5-6 sprigs; Garlic 1 head; Pampushky 6-8; Salt, black pepper, coriander, chili, bay leaf, dried green onion to taste

A simple soup made with vegetables and mushrooms and nothing of animal origin — borscht with mushrooms. Pleasant and tasty, it is perfect for a Lenten table or for vegetarians. In Ukraine, meatless mushroom borscht is a traditional dish of the Christmas Eve table, and it is made differently depending on the region, so the results can be completely different.

During the Christian fasts there are certain food restrictions which, by and large, are good for everyone. Without going into the finer points, I think that periodically cutting back on meat, cheese, milk and animal fats does everyone good. In general, it is acceptable to include various grains and legumes, vegetables, nuts and fruit, honey and mushrooms, plant fats, spices and vegetable oil in a Lenten menu — the latter is often called “Lenten” oil.

This soup belongs to the category of so-called “dressed soups”, which are cooked in a stock or broth and then dressed with sautéed vegetables. Usually root vegetables are prepared for frying — carrots, parsnips, celery, onion, parsley root. Sometimes tomato and flour are added while frying if the soup needs thickening. I remember from childhood how my grandmother cooked meatless borscht and dressed it with sautéed vegetables, but never added a thickener. Still, the borscht was always thick thanks to the large amount of vegetables.

Grandma called the flour dressing “zatirka” and added it only to borscht, and only if there were not enough vegetables. It is worth adding something a little sour — tomato paste, pickle brine or sauerkraut brine. This is guaranteed to improve the flavor of the dish, as in a meat solyanka with pickled cucumbers. But keep in mind that acidity increases the cooking time of vegetables, so the sour ingredient should go in either when the vegetables are almost done or at the very end of cooking. Also, if it is winter and you have sauerkraut, you can use it instead of fresh cabbage.

For borscht with mushrooms, all the vegetables should be fried in a very small amount of vegetable oil. And to give a red borscht with sour cream a stunning color, the beets can be baked and then briefly fried together with the other vegetables. You will be surprised at how beautiful the color of the borscht turns out. It is roughly the same as how sorrel turns green borscht an emerald color.

This borscht was a big hit at home. To be honest, I did not even expect it. Wild mushrooms put away in autumn for the stock, white beans and lots of vegetables. For a sour note we added a little sauerkraut brine to the borscht. We deliberately left out potatoes and tomato, since the vegetables alone made the borscht nicely thick, and the color came from the baked and fried beets. Also, we decided to add a little hot red pepper — it is tasty and we like it. Dried mushrooms work well in this borscht too, whereas for spaghetti with mushrooms fresh ones are better.

Ingredients

2 servings

Boiled wild mushrooms 100 g
White beans 0.5 cup
Red beets 1
White cabbage 100 g
Onion 1
Parsnip 50 g
Carrot 1
Tomato paste, pickle brine or sauerkraut brine Optional
Vegetable (Lenten) oil 2 tbsp
Dill 5-6 sprigs
Garlic 1 head
Pampushky 6-8
Salt, black pepper, coriander, chili, bay leaf, dried green onion to taste

Step-by-step recipe

As someone who loves borscht with meat, I unexpectedly liked this meatless borscht with mushrooms. It felt a bit unusual to cook borscht without tomato and potatoes. But this borscht recipe does without those usual ingredients. The usual “borscht” ingredients — white cabbage, beets, onion and root vegetables, beans. Instead of meat — boiled wild mushrooms. An almost ordinary set of ingredients.
A little preparation needs to be done in advance. First, bake a large red beet. You can bake it in the oven or in the microwave. The second way is simpler and faster: a large beet cooks through in the microwave in 5-6 mins. Second, thaw the mushrooms boiled back in autumn. These can be porcini, bay boletes, birch boletes and so on. By and large, you can use dried porcini, soaked beforehand, and then simmer the stock a little longer. And third, soak and boil the white beans in advance.
Pour 6 cups of water into a pot, bring to a boil and make a stock from the mushrooms. If the mushrooms were boiled beforehand and then frozen, the cooking time is about 10-15 mins. If the beans were only soaked and not boiled in advance, the mushrooms can be cooked together with the beans. White beans take 25-30 mins to cook through, so they will be done well within the total cooking time of the mushroom borscht.
While the mushrooms and beans are cooking, peel the parsnip, carrot and onion. Cut the onion into thick strips and the root vegetables into large cubes. Heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil — or, as it is often called, Lenten oil — in a frying pan. Fry the parsnip and carrot in the oil until soft and lightly browned.
Add the sliced onion and fry until the onion softens. All the vegetables should be fried until half-cooked and browned in a very small amount of vegetable oil.
Peel the beet baked in advance and cut it into strips. Add the beet to the fried vegetables, add 1-2 tbsp of stock from the pot and simmer the vegetables covered for 4-5 mins over low heat. If you want to add a little sourness, which is very tasty, add tomato paste or half a cup of pickle brine together with the stock.
Transfer the fried vegetables from the pan to the pot where the borscht is cooking. Stir and bring to a boil. If you are using pre-boiled beans, add them together with the vegetables. Add 2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped with a knife.
Once it boils, add the spices. Season with salt and black pepper, add 1-2 bay leaves, a pinch of ground coriander and 1 tsp of dried green onion. Be sure to add hot chili pepper — a pinch of ground chili or 1-2 dried pods.
Cook for 15 mins over medium heat, stirring often. By then the pre-fried vegetables will be almost done. As it cooks, the baked beet will color the liquid a deep, intense red. In my opinion, tomato is not needed here.
Finely shred the white cabbage, trying to keep large pieces of cabbage out of the borscht. Add the shredded cabbage and cook over medium heat for 5 mins.
Then discard the bay leaf and taste, adding salt and pepper as needed. Being a fan of spicy food, I added a little coarsely ground chili so the dish had a light heat.
Let the borscht simmer for another 10 mins, then take it off the heat and let it stand for another 5-10 mins. Pour a dressing of 1 tbsp of vegetable oil, finely chopped dill and garlic over the garlic pampushky. Be sure to salt the dressing. Since both pampushky and borscht with mushrooms are Lenten dishes, they go together perfectly on a Lenten menu.
Ladle the borscht into bowls and sprinkle with finely chopped dill. It is served without the usual sour cream, since the dish is Lenten. Serve the garlic pampushky on a separate plate, along with peeled garlic and, if you like, onion.
A really tasty soup without any animal products, which matters during Lent. Surprisingly, it is very filling — everyone ate their fill and was happy.