Ingredients:

• 10 medium-sized red beets
• 6 apples – sour varieties are recommended
• 2 onions
• 1 leek
• 1 large tuber of root celery
• 2 tablespoons of vinegar
• 4 garlic cloves
• 3 bay leaves
• 4 allspice balls
• 10 pepper grains
• pinch of salt to taste
• pinch of dried marjoram to taste

Method:

Peel the beets thinly and cut into eighths. Put them in a pot and pour cold water to cover the beets. After boiling the water, add onions cut into halves, whole leek and celery tuber cut into 4 pieces. Add spices and vinegar. When the vegetables are soft, pour the borscht through a sieve. Bring the clear borscht to boil again and add grated garlic cloves and salt to taste. If beetroots are not sweet enough, you can add a small amount of sugar - 1-2 teaspoons. Wash the apples and cut them into quarters without peeling them. Put them in the borscht, take the pot off the stove and leave the soup overnight to let the flavour and aroma of the apples mix with the borscht. Remove the apples before serving. Season the soup to taste with salt, pepper and marjoram, crushed by hand.