Ukrainian Borscht With Pork Ribs

Preheat the oven to 200C. In an ovenproof dish, bake the pork ribs for about 30 minutes or until a golden crust forms. Meanwhile, wash and roughly chop the celery root. There is no need to peel it. Cut up the carrots into chunks of about the same size as the celery pieces. Transfer the baked ribs into a large pot, add about 3 litres of water. Add the celery and carrot chunks, and half an unpeeled onion. Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes.

Make the sauteed vegetable base – this is what makes any borscht so flavorful. Dice the sweet bell pepper. Finely dice the tomatoes and the other half of the onion.

Heat the butter in a frying pan and cook the vegetables until they soften. Add 200ml tomato juice and about 2 tbsp tomato paste and cook for another 5-7 minutes.

Using a box grater, shred one of the beetroots. Add it to the sauteed vegetables and keep cooking for another 3-4 minutes.

Using a food processor with a juicing attachment, squeeze the juice out of the other beet (alternatively, you can simply grate it using the fine attachment on your box grater). Add the beet juice or purée and the vegetables into the pot with the ribs and celery, along with the allspice and bay leaves. Salt to taste.

Wash and peel 3-4 potatoes.

Dice them roughly and add into the pot with the rib broth. Cut the head of garlic in half and add to the pot.

Shred the cabbage and set it aside – we will add it to the borscht almost at the very end.

If you like, you can add some canned white beans to the borscht at this point.

Add the smoked dried pears to the pot. They will enhance the borscht with their wonderful smoky flavor.

Once all of the ingredients have cooked through and are tender, add the shredded cabbage to the pot. Cook for 5 more minutes and take the borscht off the heat. Let it rest for at least half an hour before serving with sour cream and finely chopped dill. Keep the borscht in the fridge and remember that it will become even more delicious overnight.