Most often cooked with
Onion
Bay leaf
Carrot
Garlic
Stock
Celery
Dill
Smetana creamRecipes with tomato puree
Beef and Ale Stew with Herb Dumplings
Chuck steak simmered in dark ale until it gives, with suet dumplings steamed on the surface of the pot for the last half hour.
Borscht
Beetroot and cabbage soup built on beef broth, with the grated beetroot added late and with acid so it stays red.
Chicken Tikka Masala
Yogurt-marinated chicken charred hard under a grill, then finished in a spiced tomato and cream sauce that only works if the char goes in with it.
Minestrone
A chunky vegetable soup built on a slow soffritto, with beans and small pasta simmered in the broth so it thickens as it stands.
Pasta e Fagioli
Borlotti beans cooked down until half of them collapse, with small pasta cooked in the same pot so the starch thickens everything together.
Shchi
Cabbage soup simmered in meat broth, made sour with sauerkraut in winter and with fresh cabbage in summer.
Slow-Braised Beef Shin
Beef shin browned hard then cooked for hours at a bare simmer, until the collagen melts and the meat falls apart under a fork.
Slow-Cooked Beef Ragu
Coarse beef mince browned in batches then held at a bare simmer for three hours, finished in the pan with the pasta.
Solyanka
A thick sour-salty soup of mixed cured meats, brined cucumbers, olives and lemon, built on their brine as much as stock.
Tagliatelle al Ragù
Bolognese ragù cooked for three hours with milk and a little wine, served on fresh tagliatelle rather than spaghetti, which is what Bologna actually does.
Zharkoye
Beef, potato and root vegetables braised slowly in one pot until the meat pulls apart under a fork.
