Beetroot and Ginger Soup

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About this Recipe

This is a great soup in the summer when you might have a glut of this beautiful jewel like vegetable. This recipe is great if you’re looking for a dairy free soup, so great for vegans. However I like to add a dollop of crème fraiche and crumble a little Goat’s cheese into the hot soup. Colea Goat’s Cheese is great for this.

Ingredients

• 1 kg Beetroots with the leaves and stalks attached, wash clean but do not peel
• 1 thumb grated ginger, best to be done with the Micro Plane
• 2 Red Onions, sliced
• 2 Diced Medium Size Potatoes
• 1 Finely sliced fennel bulb
• 2 Finely chopped Celery sticks
• 1/2 Clove chopped garlic
• 50g Butter
• 1/2 Lemon, juiced
• 500ml Chicken or Vegetable Stock

Method

Trim the leaves from the washed Beetroot but leave the stalks attached. If you pierce the skin or remove the stalks the vegetable will ‘bleed’ and lose both colour and flavour. You can keep the leaves, if they’re good looking, and eat them for the dinner; just wilt them in butter with just a scrap of garlic, squeeze lemon juice on them and the grate very old parmesan over them; a wonderful starter if the leaves are not too big and bold, perfect for young leaves, you can even add a little cream to the pot, and I’d eat this with roast fish or chicken, but I’m moving onto a complete other recipe! Back to the soup…Cover your washed and trimmed beets with cold water and put on the stove to boil. When the water has come to the boil, turn to a simmer, and leave for about an hour. This is not an exact science and the cook time depends on the size of the beets, so use a little cop on and check them every now and again. Try not to pierce them. If the skin rubs away quite easily from the flesh, then they’re cooked. For the purposes of this soup, it’s no harm to cook them a little more than you might think wise, better to err on the side of over done.Meanwhile, in a heavy based pot, melt the butter and add the onions, spuds, fennel, celery, garlic and ginger. Cover with a cartouche (a circle of greaseproof paper or some butter wrappers). Let the vegetables soften and sweat over a very gentle heat.