Borscht (Barszcz Czerwony) – Authentic Polish Recipe

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1. 1Step 1: Place dry mushrooms in a bowl and cover them with hot boiling water. Let them soak for 5 minutes.
2. 2Step 2: Peel, wash, and cut into chunks your vegetables (carrots, parsnip, celery root, leeks, and parsley).
3. 3Step 3: Place your vegetables and soaked mushrooms in the large pot, cover with 10 cups of water, add a tablespoon of salt, bay leaves, and allspice, and boil for about 30 minutes, uncovered.
4. 4Step 4: Prepare beets - peel them and slice in 1/2 inch slices; peel your garlic and slice the apple.
5. 5Step 5: Add beets, garlic, apple, and spices (salt, sugar, and marjoram) to the vegetable broth. At this time, add 1 tablespoon of vinegar and one tablespoon of lemon to preserve the beautiful color of the beets. Cook it for another half hour, uncovered.
6. 6Step 6: Add the remaining vinegar, and adjust the seasoning with vinegar, sugar, salt & pepper, as needed.
7. 7Step 7: Discard all the vegetables and use a strainer to pour your borscht either into mugs to drink or to bowls to be served with mushroom pierogi.