This is my favourite beetroot soup. The original recipe is from the Moro Cookbook (Ebury Press 2001) but I have have tweaked it slightly. It is easy and inexpensive to make, tastes delicious and is warm and comforting on a cold winter’s day. I love to eat mine with my rye and seed sourdough.
Ingredients
olive oil
1 medium/ large brown onion, sliced
2 large cloves of garlic, crushed (plus a small clove crushed in preparation for adding to yogurt)
2 tsp cumin seeds
700g beetroot, scrubbed and chopped into cubes
1 large potato, scrubbed and chopped into cubes
1.25l water
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsps of chopped parsley
To finish: approximately 150ml plain yogurt and a tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds
Method
Swirl a glug of olive oil in into a large pan and warm gently. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened. Sprinkle the cumin seeds into the pan followed by the chopped beetroot and potato. Cook for a few minutes making sure the potato and beetroot are coated in olive oil. Pour the water into the pan and bring it to a gentle simmer. Continue to cook until the vegetables are soft. This will take 15 - 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the contents to cool for a few minutes. Process the vegetables and their cooking water in a blender until smooth. Return the soup to the pan and add half the parsley, red wine vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.
To serve: add the small clove of crushed garlic to the yogurt and drizzle over the warmed soup. Scatter with remaining chopped parsley and toasted pumpkin seeds.
NB: I cooked this soup in a pressure cooker which halves the cooking time. Also I have not added stock so as not to mask the flavour of beetroot and cumin. I find vegetable stock can be a little overpowering and prefer to enhance the natural flavour of the vegetables. I find sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and, in this case a little red wine vinegar, usually do the trick of seasoning this type of soup.
