Our Tour Leader, Taras, is not just great at making sure you have an amazing experience while on tour, he is also a Ukrainian food specialist and master chef in the kitchen!
Discover Ukrainian cuisine, try Taras’ mouthwatering recipes and check out his two best-selling cookbooks! Read more about Taras here.
Today Taras is going to show us a different take on the traditional Ukrainian borshch and perogies/varenyky.
This borshch is not red… but green! The main ingredient is sorrel, and is popular in Ukraine as an alternative to red borshch when beets are not available.
He’ll also be showing you how to make lazy perogies or varenyky, also known as “paliushky”, which some people consider Ukrainian gnocchi! Filled perogies can be time consuming to make, so these are a quicker, easier alternative!
Keep reading for our recipes for:
1) Green Borshch
2) Lazy Perogies/Varenyky
See the full cooking class video for both recipes here.
Scroll further down for the recipes!
Recipes below:
Green Borshch Recipe
You can find this recipe in Taras’ Book “Ukrainian Cooking in Taras’ Kitchen” on page 52.
Ingredients:
- 3-4 Potatoes (or can substitute with 0.25 cup of rice)
- 1 Carrot
- 1 small onion
- A bunch of sorrel
- 1 cup sour cream
- 3 Tbsp. butter or 50ml oil
- 2-3 Chicken eggs
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Directions:
- Hard boil your eggs, and set them aside to chill.
- Wash and peel the potatoes, and cut into cubes, and peel and grate your carrot.
(If you are cooking with rice – rinse the rice a few times until the water starts to become clear). - Put the potatoes and carrot to the pan, add 4-8 cups of water and boil for 20 minutes, adding a little salt to taste.
- Meanwhile, warm up the frying pan, and add the butter until melted. Chop the sorrel and the onion, and fry lightly in the butter or oil.
- Then add the sour cream, salt, and pepper to the pan and stir well.
- Add the sorrel mix to the pan with the potatoes and carrot/or with rice, and boil for a further 10 minutes.
- Slice your chill boiled eggs, and add them to the soup before serving.
- Enjoy! As we would say in Ukraine, “smachnoho”, or “Bon appetite!
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Lazy Perogies/Varenyky Recipe
You can find this recipe in Taras’ Book “Ukrainian Cooking in Taras’ Kitchen” on page 66.
Ingredients:
- 400–500 grams (2.5 cups) pre-boiled, mashed potatoes
- 1.5 cups plain flour
- 3 chicken eggs
- 1 Onion
- 0.75 cup oil (plain, vegetable, sunflower, canola or similar)
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- 150g Bacon
How to cook:
- In a large bowl, mix the boiled potatoes and eggs, while gradually adding the flour. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Make a dough (if you need to, add more flour to get a thicker consistency.).
- Divide the dough in to 4-5 pieces and roll into long sausages.
- Cut the long dough pieces into 3-4 cm circles, and roll in your palm to make small ‘fingers’ (paliushky).
- Boil a pan of water, and add some salt.
- Boil the “paliushky” for about 4 minutes or until they are cooked/until they float.
- Meanwhile, cut the onion and bacon into small pieces, and fry in oil on a medium heat until golden.
- Drain the “paliushky”, and mix them with the fried onions mix. Serve with sour cream.
- Enjoy!
Check out Taras’ cookbooks!
Choose from “Everyday Dishes”, or “Christmas and Easter Dishes” or BOTH
In the US? Click here to view Amazon US.
Ukrainian cuisine is a delicious combination of traditions, history, and the abundance of our land’s natural wealth. Historically, Ukrainian cuisine and all the dishes we cook day-to-day combine many cultural and culinary influences from various European countries, whilst also being unique in themselves.
“Ukrainian Cooking in Taras’ Kitchen” provides a variety of recipes from across Ukraine to satisfy everyone’s appetite!
Christmas & Easter are beloved celebrations not only in Ukraine, but all around the world. These days are special, as they bring entire families together. Christmas Eve dinner usually consists of 12 traditional dishes – Taras lays out his favourite 12 Christmas dishes in this holiday cookbook, followed by a guide for the essential elements for your Easter basket. Enjoy traditions, holiday recipes, and time spent with family – cooking with Taras’ Kitchen!
Check out some of Taras’ other recipes:
