Long-awaited Borscht

After my recent realization that I had never made borscht, I wondered if maybe my whole life had been leading up to the moment when I would develop "my" borscht recipe, without which I had never been a complete person, never genuinely Polish or Hungarian, never able to claim any connection to the Carpathian Mountain, and moreover could never really represent my family's history in any sense, let alone at the kitchen table. Which is to say that I was overreacting.

But so it begins--and until I retrieve my own grandmother's recipe, I'm going to begin with this one, which I adapted only slightly from the "in the spirit of more-with-less," Simply in Season.

Winter Borscht
8 cups water
2 tbsp oil (I used vegetable oil but sunflower oil might be nice)
1 big onion, chopped
2 cups potatoes, chopped
2 cups beets, chopped
1/2 head cabbage, shredded (I used green, but I suppose red would work too?)
1/2 cup carrots, sliced
1/2 cup pearl barley
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped (or 2 tbsp dried)
1/2 cup fresh chives, chopped
salt + pepper (about a tsp of each)*
possible sour cream/plain yogurt for serving

1. Heat oil in a large soup pot (seriously, very large) and add the onion. Saute till it starts to brown, about 10 minutes.
2. Add everything else--except for the fresh dill, if you're using fresh--and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes.
3. Add fresh dill and simmer for maybe another few-10 minutes, or until the barley is cooked.
4. Serve hot (of course: it's winter) and possibly top it with a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt. Some dark bread would be good too.

*This amount of salt yields a soup that's mildly sweet, which I think I like. But add more salt if that's what you're into.

New Recipe in Town!

I'm shamelessly into anything orange in autumn (outfits, places, vibes), and I look forward to the return of sweet potatoes and butternut squash as though they were the closest of friends; a two-way embrace sort of situation. You understand. So in November I revisited one of my favorite spots for uncomplicated and in-season recipes--that table at the farmers market--in hopes of finding an appropriately simple yet ceremonious way to welcome these dear vegetables back into my life. And behold:

Butternut Squash with Leeks, Sage & Fusilli Pasta
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
4 leeks, tender white part chopped
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into small chunks about the size of dice (aim for about 2 cups)
1/4 cup dry Marsala
fusilli pasta*
lemon zest
1/4 tsp dried sage (or you could take it another direction and instead use a pinch of nutmeg)
salt + pepper
grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese

1. Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add leeks and let them soften for a minutes or two. Add the butternut squash, salt, pepper and nutmeg (if you're using it). Saute until lightly golden, or for about 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, start boiling some salted water for your pasta. Add the fusilli when it boils.
3. Add Marsala to the skillet and let it boil away. Add a splash of the pasta cooking water and continue cooking until the butternut squash is tender when pierced with a fork but still holds its shape (about another 5 minutes).
4. Drain the fusilli when it's done but save about 1/2 cup of its cooking water.
5. Add the fusilli to the skillet. Add the lemon zest and sage (if you're using it). Add a bit more olive oil and salt and pepper, and toss everything together until it's blended. You can add the pasta water to make a more saucy texture if you like (the starchy water is good for this).
6. Serve with grated cheese.

This is the tastiest thing in the world! I've also replaced some of the squash with sweet potatoes (I was a little short on squash one time) and that was tasty as well.

*The original recipes implies that this can be mixed with a ton of pasta; I'm more interested in the veggies than the pasta, so I made 1-2 servings of pasta (rather than 4-6 servings) and that gave me a more Sarah-appropriate ratio of delicious squash to pasta. Although it is still tasty thinned by more pasta: Karen QB's rendition was yummy without a doubt.