White borscht soup -- Polish bialy barszcz -- is typically eaten on Easter Sunday morning and is made with most of the foods from the swieconka basket blessed on Holy Saturday.
There is as much diversity in the soup as there is in what families put into their Easter baskets. I make it with sour cream and smoked and fresh white Polish sausage. Others use buttermilk and ham, and my sister-in-law skips the sausage and adds bacon, sauteed onions, vinegar and sugar. What remains constant is the sausage water base.
Here's a larger picture of my version of white borscht.
Makes 6 servings of Polish White Borscht Recipe
There is as much diversity in the soup as there is in what families put into their Easter baskets. I make it with sour cream and smoked and fresh white Polish sausage. Others use buttermilk and ham, and my sister-in-law skips the sausage and adds bacon, sauteed onions, vinegar and sugar. What remains constant is the sausage water base.
Here's a larger picture of my version of white borscht.
Makes 6 servings of Polish White Borscht Recipe
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 6 cups sausage cooking water, fat removed
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 2 cups sour cream
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 link white Polish kielbasa sausage, casing removed, sliced 1/4" thick
- 1 link smoked Polish kielbasa sausage, casing removed, sliced 1/4" thick
- 6 medium potatoes, peeled, cut into chunks and boiled
- 6 hard-cooked sliced eggs
- 6 slices light or dark rye bread
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, add sausage water and garlic. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 5 minutes.
- Fork-blend the flour and sour cream. Temper the sour cream with a little hot sausage water, then return to pot, stirring until thickened. Add sausages, potatoes and eggs to pot and heat until warmed through. Season to taste. At this point, some people add a pinch of sugar or a tablespoon of vinegar. The soup should have a pleasantly sour taste.
- Into 6 heated bowls, tear rye bread into bite-sized pieces. Ladle hot soup over bread.
