I can´t believe that 10 months have gone away since I started this blog! 60 posts later, it’s time to start revisiting some of my favorite recipes, to get creative and add a different twist. Shchi, the classic Russian cabbage soup was one of my first posts and definitely among my favourites! Now that autumn is finally here, some days ago I was really feeling like eating Shchi again, I haven’t cooked it since the first post! But this time, I added some Middle-Eastern style meatballs, and the fusion turned out amazingly well!
I slightly varied the Shchi recipe and the meatballs are of my creation, however you’ll notice a clear Middle-Esatern influence: I prepared them with bulgur, inspired by the traditional Kebbeh, and it just gave them the perfect texture! I think I’ll always use bulgur from now on instead of bread crumbs or flour. A pinch of cinnamon, among other typical spices, is a little secret I’ve been applying to my meatballs since I first saw the delightful movie “A Touch of Spice” (2003), which I highly recommend by the way, every foodie should watch it!
Would you like to try it? It’s a great healthy complete meal to warm up your evenings! and I made Yakisoba with the remaining cabbage, yummy!
Shchi remastered (with Middle-Eastern Meatballs)
- Servings: 4
- Time: 1
- Difficulty: easy
Ingredients
For the soup:
- a dash of olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, pressed
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1/2 small cabbage head, shredded
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tin diced tomatoes
- 1 liter beef stock
- 1/2 cup dried mushrooms of choice
- 2 bay leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
- dried or fresh dill to garnish
- a dollop of low-fat Greek yogurt to serve
For the meatballs:
- 400 g minced beef
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- a pinch of cinnamon powder
- salt and white pepper to taste
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp of bulgur
Preparation
- Heat the oil in the pressure cooking pot* and sauté the garlic, onion and carrot over medium heat until soft.
- Add the cabbage, a pinch of salt and the tomato paste, stir to combine and stir-fry a few minutes.
- Stir in the diced tomatoes along with its juice, pour the stock and incorporate the mushrooms and bay leaves, stir to mix.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste and bring to a boil.
- In the meantime, in a bowl mix the minced beef with the spices, salt, egg and bulgur using your hands until a thick paste is formed .
- Make the meatballs and add them to the soup (the mixture yielded 12 meatballs of ca. 4 cm diameter).
- Cover and pressure cook* for around ten minutes.
- Serve, sprinkle with dill, add a dollop of yogurt and enjoy!
*Always follow your pressure cooker instructions and manage it with due care.
Filed under: Creation, Middle-Eastern, Russian Tagged: beef, cabbage, cabbage soup, clean eating, healthy food, high fiber, low calorie, low fat, meatballs, Middle-Eastern Meatballs, mushrooms, pressure cooker, whole food
