Botvinya

Botvinya is a cool soup made with sour kvass and a decoction of beet tops. Fresh or salted boiled reddish fish is often added to this dish of Russian cuisine. Read more about botvinya .

Botvinya can be considered a ceremonial dish. Great tasting cool soup!

Botvinya is considered a special cool soup. Its base includes the necessary young beets, their tops, sorrel, spinach, young nettle leaves, dill, parsley and the freshest cucumbers. The base of botvinya is no less rich in its components - beet broth, fish or meat broth, white and bread kvass, horseradish and mustard. Try this famous dish at least once!

The name of the dish comes from the Old Russian word “botet”, which means to get fat, and refers to plants with tops. Botvinya is very good in the summer heat, because it is very refreshing and is a light dish. The dish is tasty, healthy and satisfying. Botvina is not difficult to prepare. During meals, it is recommended to put pieces of ice on a plate with botvina in the heat, this way the botvina comes out very chilled. The recipe may or may not contain fish.

The main ingredients that are usually included in botvinya: kvass (white and bread), young beets, nettles, sorrel, beet tops, green onions, dill, parsley, horseradish, reddish fish, crayfish.

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Botvinha soup – traditional recipe and 5 newest production methods

Greetings, dear readers of the online magazine “In Your Own House”! Now we have a traditional recipe for botvinya.

Botvinnik is a common Russian dish served cold. It is usually prepared with sour kvass with the addition of boiled sorrel leaves, beet tops, nettles and green onions. In the summer heat, you can replace the well-known okroshka with a hearty Russian dish.

The usefulness of botvinya lies in its unique composition. The tops contain vitamins (a group of low-molecular organic compounds of relatively simple structure and varied chemical nature) , potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron salts, therefore it is recommended to include the dish in the diet to regulate metabolism, heal gastritis and stomach ulcers. According to research, beet leaves and roots have an antitumor effect. They also remove harmful cholesterol from the body (an organic compound, a natural fatty, lipophilic alcohol contained in the cell membranes of all living organisms except nuclear-free ones) , promotes weight loss and prevents the aging process.

Ingredients

Traditional step-by-step recipe

Video recipe

5 manufacturing options

“Storozhevskaya”

A popular dish among people living in the village of Storozhevoye, Dankovsky district, Lipetsk region. The soup called “Storozhevskaya” differs from the traditional recipe in that quinoa and boiled potatoes are added to it.

A tasty and satisfying dish that is suitable for those who are watching their weight. It would be a good choice for okroshka on a hot summer day.

Light, but nutritious and fragrant soup with meat. It differs from traditional botvinnik in that it is prepared with meat, preferably beef. Bell peppers, carrots and tomatoes are also added to it.

A savory soup based on new cucumbers, green onions, parsley, kvass, grated raw beets with juice and sour cream. Botwinia is served in Polish with hard-boiled eggs.

A hearty first course based on beets with tops, ham, potatoes, lemon juice, horseradish, cucumber and green onions. Serve chilled, garnished with an egg cut in half.

Useful tips

Botvinnik is usually served with a plate of crushed ice. Anyone can add it to their plate.
The dish can be served not only with fish, but also with crayfish. They must be boiled in advance with the addition of vegetables, salt and spices.

Conclusion

To make Botvinnik, I use all kinds of edible greens and tops. Some of them should be crushed, boiled and ground.

Horseradish roots, mustard seeds and dark ground pepper will help add spiciness to the soup. For dressing, I recommend using snow-white bread kvass.

That's all for today. If you have questions, ask them in the comments.

Old Russian healthy dish - botvinya, a traditional recipe for a light and rich soup

In ancient times, the Slavs had a huge amount of delicious, vitamin-rich, necessary and at the same time very cheap dishes. One of them is considered to be botvinya, the traditional recipe of which belongs to old Russian cuisine. As the name suggests, it was prepared from tops - sorrel leaves, beets with the addition of spinach, nettle, dill, quinoa, parsley. In general, all the greens that grew in the garden were used. Botvinya was poured with sour kvass. Later they began to add finely chopped radishes, fresh cucumbers, and beets to it.

This cool, common soup quickly gained popularity not only among the poor, but also took its respectable place at the ceremonial and daily meals of princes and kings. Only for authoritative persons, botvinya was flavored with grated horseradish, and later lemon juice was added. It was served with boiled or salted fish, various seafood, and crayfish. A device with crushed ice was placed separately on the table to further cool the dish. If previously separate cutlery was served for fish, ice and the botvinya itself, and they were laid out on different plates, then nowadays, most often the botvinya is served immediately with ice and fish (seafood) in one container.

Partial Lenten botvinya, traditional recipe

In ancient times, if tops were prepared from beet tops and other greens, it was called incomplete. A dish that was supplemented with fish or crayfish was called complete. The watery component of the dish also differed. Botvinya was simply filled with kvass, and it was considered ordinary. If, in addition to kvass, the dressing included sourdough made from kvass grounds and flour, then botvinya was called steamed.

The easiest traditional recipe is considered to be incomplete botvinya.

To make it you will need:

half a kilo of sorrel;
5-6 new cucumbers;
2 liters of kvass;
a bunch of beet tops;
green onions, parsley, dill - 50 g each;
sugar, salt, horseradish, mustard - to taste;
ice cubes.

Preparing the cool soup is quite simple.

Manufacturing method:

The sorrel and beet tops are sorted out, washed, and placed in a saucepan. Pour in a small amount of water so that it just covers the greens. Boil in its juice for 10 minutes, then grind through a sieve or crush with a mixer (blender).
Green onions are washed, dried, crushed and combined with horseradish or mustard, not forgetting to add salt.
Peel the cucumbers and finely chop them.
Transfer the sorrel-beet mixture into a dish, add onions with horseradish, and cucumber slices. Everything is filled with kvass. Decorate with chopped herbs and serve with a bowl of ice.

This is the most common, economical, dietary version of botvinya.

Full botvinya with reddish fish

Botvinnik, the recipe for which is presented below, is also traditional, but the soup turns out to be the most satisfying and rich.

The following products are needed:

reddish fish (trout, chum salmon, salmon) – 500-600 g;
kvass (1 liter of dark rye and 1 glass of snow-white okroshka);
one fresh cucumber;
young beets together with tops - 4-5 pieces;
fresh nettle leaves – 200 g;
fresh radishes - 4 pieces;
500 g sorrel;
100 g green onions;
salt, sugar, horseradish - to taste;
crushed ice

The process of creating this dish is slightly more complicated, but the end result is a rich and satisfying culinary masterpiece.

Manufacturing development:

The fish is boiled in salted water with peppercorns and bay leaves. Cool, divide into portions.
The onion is washed, crushed with horseradish, salt and sweet sand.
Beet tops, nettles and sorrel are washed (the nettles are additionally scalded with boiling water), boiled in a small amount of water for about 5 minutes. Cool and cut into small pieces.
The beets are peeled, cut into small cubes, and stewed in a frying pan until soft.
Cucumbers and radishes are cut into thin slices or cubes (you can grate them).
Combine all ingredients in one bowl. Pepper and salt. Okroshechny and black kvass are combined and topped with botvinya.
The soup, fish and ice are served separately. This is how Botvinnik fish soup made from beet leaves looks appetizing in the photo.

In order for the botvinya to be as rich as possible, the fish is boiled with carrots, onions, peppers and other spices.

Then it is taken out, and nettles, tops, and sorrel are boiled in the resulting fragrant broth.

Manufacturing secrets

Since time immemorial, the traditional botvinya recipe has included only natural ingredients.

Using the following tips, you can prepare the right soup according to the old Slavic method:

Kvass. Homemade kvass made from rye bread or beets is an excellent choice for botvinya. The taste of botvinya almost entirely depends on the choice of fizzy drink. It is better to prepare kvass on your own than to take something unknown from the store. There is nothing complicated in this process. Wort is made by steaming rye bread crusts with hot water. Leave them to ferment for a day in a warm place. Then yeast with sweet sand is added and left to ferment for 6-8 hours. Strain and the kvass is ready! In the absence of a homemade drink, you can buy store-bought live fermented kvass.
Beet. According to the traditional recipe, young beets for botvinya are chosen, always with the freshest, unwithered leaves. It contains the most necessary substances, while the tops contain more of them than the root vegetables themselves.
Additional components. Add wild garlic, spinach, quinoa, and nettle to the soup. Vegetables can be cut into small pieces, strips, cubes, halves of circles, or grated. This is a matter of aesthetic perception.
Fish. If botvinya is prepared with fish, it is served separately or placed in the middle of a portioned dish. It is better to choose fillets or fish with the least amount of bones for convenience.
Innings. Botvinnik is decorated with chopped herbs and pieces of boiled eggs.

Cool beetroot soup with kvass was so popular among connoisseurs of Slavic cuisine that culinary experts came up with a hot version. With a rich taste, fragrant, rich botvinya has already become a classic of gastronomy; it is prepared with meat, chicken, turkey, and even quail. But the main components still remain beet tops and sorrel. Instead of kvass, the recipe for traditional roast botvinya uses rich meat broth.

Botvinya is one of the most popular dishes in Old Rus'. This cool soup is prepared simply, with minimal effort, and it contains a lot of vitamins, because the ingredients are used fresh and the dish is not actually subjected to heat treatment.

Traditional botvinya is an excellent choice for okroshka on hot summer days. It was not for nothing that she was so popular even at princely and royal tables.

Burning botvinya, traditional recipe - video

Botvinya

Beetroot

I hope it’s not too late and you can find the freshest beets and tops on sale. Therefore, such a soup is just right in the summer heat!

Botvinya “Storozhevskaya”

Okroshka's cousin. My mother grew up in the village of Storozhevoye, Dankovsky district. And she helped me return this recipe that her grandmother, my great-grandmother, made. This is exactly how the mother’s family made botvinya at the end of the hungry 46-48 years of the last century. And practically the same botvinya, only richer in composition, was treated to little Sveta, which she remembers very vaguely, but her mother helped with this too. Botvinya is an almost forgotten dish, but in those hungry years it was irreplaceable, since all kinds of edible tops, nettles, squash, and quinoa were used. I tried to reproduce specifically the recipe of my mother’s distant youth.

Botvinya with fish

Ancient Russian cool soup.

Botvinnik “Pavlovsky”

Botvinnik is a variant of beetroot, which uses beets with tops. My friend had a dacha in Pavlovsk. A large family (9 children!) lived nearby. In fact, this is their recipe. To feed such a horde of children in the summer, they usually prepared Botvinnik with potatoes. When guests arrived, potatoes were replaced with sausage or meat. To save money, potatoes and meat were added from time to time. Once I got to Botvinnik and asked for the recipe. Now when I have beets with tops, I cook them for my own family. True, my scale is not industrial. The heat doesn't subside. Shall we try?

Botvinya “Redish Summer”

A tasty summer dish, like borscht. It turns out very fragrant, because it is prepared from new vegetables and red beet leaves. I take everything “approximately”, here I write an approximate amount; When you make it, adjust to taste. I write as I do.

Gardeners' soup “Botvinnik”

Summer. Summer season. All summer residents are familiar with the procedure of thinning beds with their favorite vegetables: carrots, beets, etc. This soup contains everything that contains vitamins that it would be a pity to throw away after thinning these beds: beet tops, carrots and carrot tops, dill, etc. The soup is prepared quickly and VERY tasty!

Botvinya on the water

I bring to your attention a summer, regular and light botvinya soup. There are already several recipes on the website, but most of them are based on meat or chicken broth. But I assure you that this soup is quite excellent just on water. Maybe even lean if you don’t add sour cream before eating))

Botvinya

This summer's first dish captured the love of my family from the first spoon. Now, while the beets have not yet been put away for storage, I cook it quite often. Try it - you won't regret it! :)

Botvinya . Botvinya is a Russian first cold dish. The name comes from the main ingredient of the soup - edible grass tops. Any kind of greens and tops that are edible can be involved in making soup. Some types of tops for soup are boiled in advance, crushed or pureed and added to the soup.

Greens such as sorrel, beet tops, nettle, spinach, green onions, dill, and parsley are used. To add spiciness to the soup, add horseradish leaves or root, mustard seeds, and ground dark pepper.

Botvinya, in addition to herbs and seasonings, contains products such as radishes and fresh cucumbers. May contain boiled chopped chicken eggs and boiled potatoes, diced.

Season the soup with cool, sour kvass. Snow-white bread kvass is most often used for seasoning. Usually the soup is served with a plate of crushed ice, which anyone can add to their plates. Botvinya is also often served with fish or crayfish - after previously boiled ones, with the addition of peeled vegetables, spices and salt.

The best time to serve botvinya to the table is summer, hot days, because this soup perfectly cools the body, and it is more easily absorbed by the body than another type of cool soup in Russian cuisine - okroshka.