Romania · Soup · Easy
Ciorbă de legume
Romanian vegetable soup soured with borș and finished with lovage
A clear, sour soup of root vegetables, potatoes, green beans and peas, soured with fermented wheat-bran borș and finished with lovage and parsley. Adding the vegetables in order of cooking time keeps each one intact, and boiling the borș separately keeps the broth clear and its sourness bright.
- Energy
- 195 kcalper serving
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 45 min
- Rest
- 10 min
- Protein
- 5 g
How was it?
Equipment
- Large soup pot (at least 5 l)
- Medium saucepan for the borș
- Slotted spoon or skimmer
- Ladle
- Chopping board and chef's knife
Before you start
- Peel and dice the carrots, parsley root and celeriac into even 1 cm pieces.
- Cut the potatoes into 1.5 cm cubes and keep them in cold water until needed.
- Peel the tomatoes: score, plunge in boiling water for 30 seconds, then slip off the skins and chop.
- Chop the lovage and parsley and keep them separate from the other vegetables.
Method
-
Sweat the roots
30 ml sunflower oil150 g onion200 g carrots100 g parsley root150 g celeriacHeat the oil in the soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, parsley root and celeriac and cook for 8 minutes, stirring often.
Done when The onion is translucent and the carrots have just started to soften; nothing has browned and the pot smells sweet.
Tip Keep the colour pale: browned vegetables make the broth dull and muddy.
-
Add the pepper
150 g red bell pepperAdd the red pepper and cook for 3 minutes over medium heat, stirring.
Done when The pepper pieces are glossy and slightly soft, and the oil has turned orange.
-
Add the water
2.5 l waterPour in the water and bring to the boil over high heat. Skim off any foam with the slotted spoon.
Done when The water boils steadily and the surface is clear of grey foam.
-
Simmer the potatoes
400 g waxy potatoesAdd the drained potatoes, lower to medium-low heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Done when The soup bubbles gently; a knife meets some resistance in the centre of a potato cube.
-
Add the green beans
150 g green beansAdd the green beans and simmer for 10 minutes more over medium-low heat.
Done when The potatoes are tender all the way through and the beans are bright green and just tender.
-
Boil the borș
1 l borșMeanwhile, pour the borș into the saucepan and bring it just to the boil over high heat. Skim off the white foam and take it off the heat.
Done when A thick white foam rises and, once removed, the liquid underneath looks clearer and smells cleanly sour.
Tip Boiling the borș separately removes the foam and its raw, yeasty taste; adding it cold clouds the soup.
-
Add peas and tomatoes
100 g peas300 g ripe tomatoesAdd the peas and tomatoes to the soup and simmer for 5 minutes over medium-low heat.
Done when The peas are bright green and the tomatoes have collapsed into the broth.
-
Sour the soup
1 l borșPour in the hot borș a third at a time, tasting after each addition. Bring back to a gentle simmer for 2–3 minutes.
Done when The broth tastes clearly sour but not sharp, and small bubbles break at the surface.
Tip Borș varies in strength, so stop when the soup is sour enough. Do not boil it for long after this point: it loses its fresh tang.
-
Season
10 g fine saltto taste black pepperAdd salt gradually, tasting as you go, and season with black pepper.
Done when Salt and sourness are balanced: the soup tastes bright, not flat and not harsh.
-
Add the herbs
1 bunch lovage1 bunch flat-leaf parsleyTake the pot off the heat and stir in the lovage and parsley.
Done when The herbs wilt at once and the kitchen fills with the strong, celery-like smell of lovage.
Tip Lovage is powerful. If you are not used to it, add half, taste after a minute, then add the rest.
-
Rest
Cover the pot and leave the soup to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Done when The steam has settled and the herbs have darkened slightly; the flavours taste rounder.
Common mistakes
The soup tastes flat and not sour enough.
Fix The borș was weak. Add more hot borș, or a squeeze of lemon juice, then taste again before adding more salt.
The broth is cloudy with a yeasty taste.
Fix The borș went in cold and unskimmed. Always bring it to the boil separately and skim the foam first.
Some vegetables are mushy and others hard.
Fix Cut them evenly and add them in order: roots first, then potatoes, then beans, then peas and tomatoes.
The soup is too salty.
Fix Bottled borș is sometimes salted. Taste the soup after the borș goes in and only then add salt.
Serving
Serve hot in deep bowls with fresh bread and a hot green pepper on the side to bite between spoonfuls. Outside of the vegan version, a spoon of smântână stirred in at the table is common.
Storage and reheating
Cool quickly and keep covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. It freezes for up to 3 months, though the potatoes turn softer. Reheat over medium heat until it just simmers; do not boil hard, and add fresh herbs after reheating.
Make ahead
Dice the vegetables up to 1 day ahead and keep them covered in the fridge, with the potatoes under cold water. The soup itself is good the next day.
Variations
With lemon (gluten-free)
Replace the borș with the juice of 2–3 lemons and 1 l more water. Add the lemon juice off the heat at the end, a little at a time, until the soup is sour enough.
Dreasă with smântână (vegetarian)
Whisk 150 g smântână with 1 egg yolk, whisk in two ladles of hot soup, then stir the mixture back into the pot off the heat. Do not let it boil again or it will curdle.
Summer ciorbă
Add 1 courgette, diced, with the peas and a handful of chopped green cabbage with the green beans. Finish with dill as well as lovage.
