recipe by Mary-Francis at Food & Wine
Ingredients
- 2 pounds peeled cooked red beets
- ½ cup dill pickle juice
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided, plus more to taste
- 1 large cucumber (about 12 ounces), peeled, halved lengthwise, and seeded
- 1 cup cold water
- ½ cup chopped scallions (from 4 large scallions), plus more for garnish
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh dill, plus more for garnish
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
- 1 ½ teaspoons black pepper, plus more to taste
- 4 cups buttermilk
- 8 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and quartered lengthwise
- 1 cup sour cream
- Chopped fresh herbs (such as chives or flat-leaf parsley), for serving
Directions
- Using large holes of a box grater, grate beets into a large bowl. Add pickle juice, sugar, and 1 tablespoon salt; toss to combine. Let stand at room temperature, uncovered, until flavors meld, about 30 minutes.
- Using large holes of a box grater, grate cucumber into beet mixture in bowl. Add 1 cup cold water, scallions, dill, lemon juice, pepper, and remaining 2 teaspoons salt; gently stir until mixture is combined. Add buttermilk in 2 additions, gently stirring and folding until soup turns fuchsia and is evenly colored. Stir in additional salt and pepper to taste. (The soup should be assertively seasoned.)
- Refrigerate soup, covered, until very cold, at least 2 hours or up to 3 days. Serve topped with hard-cooked eggs, sour cream, chopped fresh herbs, and additional scallions and dill. Makes 8 servings.
Make Ahead: Soup can be made up to 1 day ahead and stored in an airtight container in refrigerator.
https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/borscht-with-buttermilk-and-grated-cucumber
