Posted on by alea

Savoury Beet Soup

 

 Savoury Beet Soup

Ahh late summer- when the black eyed susans pop out, the goldenrod starts blooming, and all the root vegetables start springing forth with abandon. Who knew you could grow so many beets!? 

The other day I was being a big hero and wanted to make beet chips. ummmm…. and sliced off the end of my finger (Note to Self : Use the freaking hand guard with a mandoline!) Anyways, this time around I figured I’d play safe and use my food processor.  Except that I used the wrong darn attachment and I shredded my beets instead of slicing them. Like, what the heck can you make with shredded beets already!? (ooooh wait. I bet I could try a brownie… anyways…)… I had a big bag of shredded beets in my freezer. Right beside my big bag of frozen shredded celery root (ugh, have you tried that stuff?  I thought I’d be a hero and make a salad from celery root. Yah. Not so much.)

So thats what I do.  When something frustrates me I freeze it. And then magically, a brainstorm hits. What if I made soup!?  Not that cold sweet summer beet soup or that thick pink borscht with cream (Never tried it. Can’t wrap my head around it). So, I set out to make savoury beet soup, and add in the celery root. Bizzare, you might think. But oooooh so unbelievably tasty!

This recipe can be made into a puree, but, I prefer it ‘au naturel’. The texture is more pleasing that way.  It actually tastes alot like a meaty tomato soup! Who woulda thunk it. :)

 

Savoury Beet Soup

Ingredients

  • 6-8 cups shredded beets
  • 6-8 cups shredded celery root
  • 1/2 cup pancetta or bacon,  chopped (sulfite and nitrate free: Piggy Market has  homemade bacon- no preservatives other than naturally occuring nitrates from the smoking process)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 medium onions
  • 2 tsp thyme
  • 3 litres beef stock, or 3 litres of water with 3beef bouillon cubes and 1 chicken bouillon cube (start with 2 of the beef bouillon cube and taste to see if its your liking)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil

Directions

  1. In a large soup pot, add the olive oil and chopped onions and cook over medium heat till they are almost translucent.
  2. At the same time, in a separate skillet over medium heat, cook up the pancetta/bacon until its crispy and almost all the fat has melted off.
  3. Add the pancetta/bacon to the onions, plus all the other ingredients.
  4. Simmer for 40 min or until the soup is to your liking.  Yum!

This recipe would go well with:

Other soups you can find are:

 

Savoury Beet Soup