I grew up in Russia (obligatory fuck Putin), and my mom would make borscht every couple of weeks. While I never had the exact recipe, and I don’t measure things anymore, this recipe is as close as it gets to my mom’s soup. The only difference is she would add a green bell pepper instead of the tomatoes.
It’s a bit involved (and your kitchen will look like you murdered someone because of the beets), but it’s worth the effort!
It’s amazing with sour cream and some fresh dill. Serranos sound really good, it would be yummy with a bit of heat.
Highly recommend. The heat really amps up the flavors, and you still get the sweetness of the peppers behind it.
I personally add some dried ghost peppers flakes to it as well, which are earthy as well as hot. Flatiron has a great shaker if you like painful heat.
That’s what horseradish is for. Horseradish was born to make borscht better.