This is the soup that ended my 2+ years of being a vegetarian. I love this soup and it reminds me of my childhood when my grandmother used to prepare this and wait for me when I was a teenager after I came from school to have a nice lunch meal. It is a traditional soup in Romania.
You will need a big pot for this, of around 4 litres, it depends on how thick or how light you enjoy your soups.
The ingredients necessary for the soup
3 tomatoes sliced in tiny cubes
1 zucchini sliced in tiny cubes
1 small celery
2 peppers (red , yellow or green, your choice)
1 big carrot
2 onions ( I picked red onions, you can also use regular)
beef bones or a piece of beef rib eye
陆 l of borsch (it is a traditional sour liquid obtained from the fermentation of wheat bran)
parsley
lovage
salt (simple or Himalaya salt, I used the latter)
The ingrediends necessary for the meatballs
500 grams of minced beef meat
1 egg
chopped parsley
1 small chopped onion
sweet paprika
salt
pepper
Optional for serving
sour cream
hot pepper
A. First we put the beef bones or the beef rib eye in water and let it boil until no more froth is gathering on top. We remove the dirty froth. I have used rib eye as I have not found beef bones at my nearby shop.
B. When froth is no longer forming on top, we can add the chopped celery, carrot and onion.
C.We let the mixture boil for 20 minutes.
D.Meanwhile we prepare the mixture for the meatballs. We add 1 egg on top of the minced meat, chopped parsley, sweet paprika, salt, pepper and we mix it well. It is optional to add 100 grams of rice into this composition, I prefer without.
E.With a bowl of cold water near us we form the meatballs. A very relaxing activity as I like my meatballs small and I enjoy working with my hands.
F.After the 20 minutes have passed since we added the ingredients from step 2, we add the chopped tomatoes, the red pepper, salt and the pre-boiled borsch. I have boiled my borsch separately and I also drinked some of it like this, raw. I love the taste and this liquid is packed with vitamin B.
G.We let the soup boil for another 15 minutes.
H.We remove the beef bones/rib eye and we add the zucchini. We can take the meat of the bone and add it to the soup later.
I.We let the soup boil for another 10 minutes.
J.Now it is the best moment of the recipe: we add the meatballs. On a very low heat, we add it one by one. We do not stir at all into the soup while these will be boiling because we risk to make them break apart.
K. We let the soup boil for another 20 minutes.
L.We stop the fire and we add the chopped parsley and lovage.
M.We can add extra salt if we feel like it. I serve it with sour cream but it is a matter of personal taste, some people like it just as it is from the pot.
With added sour cream...it is totally something else馃ぉ
Another hot soup that made my toes wiggle of joy!