Name: Radziwiłłów Young Beet Soup with Mashed Potatoes (Barszcz botwinka z Radziwiłłowa)
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 70 min
Yield: 4 servings, each with soup and a potato side
Cuisine: Polish
Ingredients: 350 g young beetroot, peeled and diced into 1 cm pieces; 150 g tender beet leaves and stems, washed, trimmed and chopped; 100 g yellow onion, diced; 1.2 L unsalted chicken stock; 150 g sour cream; 15 g buckwheat flour; 20 ml lemon juice; 8 g sugar; 3 g fine salt; 15 g chives, finely sliced; 10 g fresh dill, chopped; 800 g floury potatoes, peeled and cut into even chunks; 60 ml milk, warmed; 30 g unsalted butter; 4 g salt, for the potato water; most of the water will be discarded; 150 g skinless pork belly, diced into 1 cm pieces

Wide view of Radziwiłłów botwinka and its separate mound of buttery mashed potatoes with golden pork cracklings.

Yield 4 servings, each with soup and a potato side

Serving one quarter of the soup, potatoes and cracklings

Diet contains pork and milk; buckwheat is used as the thickener

Prep 25 minutes

Ingredients ↓

At a glance

Radziwiłłów Young Beet Soup with Mashed Potatoes (Barszcz botwinka z Radziwiłłowa)

Introduction: This Mazovian spring plate pairs a light, tangy-sweet beet-green soup thickened with sour cream and buckwheat flour with mashed potatoes and crisp pork cracklings.

Barszcz botwinka z Radziwiłłowa is a traditional-product entry from Radziwiłłów Mazowiecki in the Mazowieckie region. Its defining presentation keeps the light beet-coloured soup and the mashed potatoes distinct on the same plate. Tender pieces of young beetroot and leaves remain visible in the broth, while the potato mound is topped with pork cracklings.

The official description allows meat stock, meat or vegetable broth. It thickens the cooked beets and leaves with sour cream and buckwheat flour, then seasons the dish with chives, dill, sugar and lemon juice. The entry describes both peasant and manor-house soup traditions in the area and notes that household gardens supplied vegetables. This measured home version uses unsalted chicken stock and keeps the local soup-and-potato presentation; it is not an exact producer formula.

Simmer the diced roots with onion until tender, then add the greens so they keep their colour without turning stringy. Temper the sour-cream and buckwheat-flour mixture with hot broth before stirring it into the pot, and heat gently rather than boiling hard. Serve each bowl with a separate scoop of buttery mash and crisp pork belly cooked to a safe temperature.

Tips

Choose a small bunch of young beets with tender, unblemished leaves and stems; remove any tough or damaged parts.
Wash the greens in several changes of water, as soil often collects around the stems.
Cut the roots into even 1 cm pieces so they soften at the same rate.
Add the leaves only after the roots are nearly tender; they need just a few minutes.
Whisk the buckwheat flour into the sour cream until smooth, then temper it gradually with hot broth to prevent lumps.
After adding the sour cream, keep the soup at a gentle simmer and avoid a rolling boil.
Render the pork belly slowly from a cool pan for crisp cracklings, and verify the centre reaches 63 °C / 145 °F followed by a 3-minute rest.

Ingredients

Young beet soup

350 g young beetroot, peeled and diced into 1 cm pieces
150 g tender beet leaves and stems, washed, trimmed and chopped
100 g yellow onion, diced
1.2 L unsalted chicken stock
150 g sour cream
15 g buckwheat flour
20 ml lemon juice
8 g sugar
3 g fine salt
15 g chives, finely sliced
10 g fresh dill, chopped

Mashed potatoes

800 g floury potatoes, peeled and cut into even chunks
60 ml milk, warmed
30 g unsalted butter
4 g salt, for the potato water; most of the water will be discarded

Pork cracklings

150 g skinless pork belly, diced into 1 cm pieces

Method

Directions

Prepare the vegetables.Trim damaged beet leaves and woody stems. Wash the leaves and stems thoroughly, then chop them. Peel and dice the roots into even 1 cm pieces; dice the onion.
Simmer the roots.Put the beetroot, onion and chicken stock in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a steady simmer for 20–25 minutes, until a knife slides easily into the beet pieces.
Finish and thicken the soup.Add the chopped leaves and tender stems and simmer for 5–8 minutes, until wilted and tender. In a bowl, whisk the buckwheat flour into the sour cream. Gradually whisk in a ladle of hot broth, then stir the tempered mixture into the soup. Heat gently without a hard boil until lightly thickened. Stir in the lemon juice, sugar, 3 g salt, chives and dill.
Boil the potatoes.Meanwhile, cover the potatoes with cold water in a separate pot and add 4 g salt. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15–20 minutes, until easily pierced with a knife. Drain thoroughly and return them to the warm pot for a minute so excess steam escapes.
Mash the potatoes.Warm the milk and butter. Mash them into the potatoes until soft, using all the measured milk. Keep warm while you finish the pork.
Render the cracklings and serve.Put the pork belly in a cool heavy skillet and set it over medium-low heat. Cook for 12–18 minutes, turning the pieces, until the fat renders and the edges are crisp and browned. Check the centre reaches at least 63 °C / 145 °F, then rest for 3 minutes. Lift out with a slotted spoon. Serve the soup with a separate mound of mash on the same plate and scatter the cracklings over the potatoes; add a little rendered fat if desired.

Nutrition and allergens

Energyabout 600 kcal per serving
Proteinabout 17 g
Fatabout 31 g
Saturated fatabout 15 g
Carbohydrateabout 62 g
Sugarsabout 12 g
Fibreabout 6 g

Contains milk and buckwheat. Use a clean thermometer for the pork and wash hands and surfaces after handling raw meat. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and reheat to 74 °C / 165 °F throughout.

Nutrition and allergens

Serving and storage: Serve the light beet soup and mashed potatoes together, keeping them visually distinct; spoon the pork cracklings over the potatoes. The traditional description also allows meat or vegetable broth and notes hard-boiled egg as an optional addition. This version uses chicken stock and does not include egg.

Serving and storage: Refrigerate soup, mash and cracklings within 2 hours in covered containers at 4 °C or colder. Use within 3–4 days and reheat the soup and potatoes throughout to 74 °C / 165 °F. Reheat cracklings until hot and crisp. For make-ahead preparation, wash and chop the beets and greens in advance, but keep the greens refrigerated; cook the soup and potatoes on the day of serving for the best texture.

Contains milk and buckwheat. Use a clean thermometer for the pork and wash hands and surfaces after handling raw meat. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and reheat to 74 °C / 165 °F throughout.

Sodium: about 650 mg

Approximate per soup-and-potato plate; sodium varies with the stock and pork, and assumes most potato-water salt is discarded. Not laboratory analysis.

Radziwiłłów Young Beet Soup with Mashed Potatoes (Barszcz botwinka z Radziwiłłowa)

Tips

Ingredients

Young beet soup

Mashed potatoes

Pork cracklings

Method

Nutrition and allergens

Nutrition and allergens

Polish National Dishes

Radziwiłłów Sorrel Soup (Barszcz szczawiowy z Radziwiłłowa)

Niemojki Lentil Pierogi (Pierogi niemojskie)

Paszkówka Kaszanka with Braised Sauerkraut (Kaszana – kiszka z kapustą zasmażaną)