Ready cooked beetroot is what makes Hairy Bikers beetroot soup a weeknight job rather than a weekend one. The recipe is from Make It Easy, with carrot, celery, potato and shredded cabbage in beef stock. It serves four at 234 calories a bowl and takes about 50 minutes.
They write in Make It Easy that they cooked this in Latvia and it tastes just as good in Luton. It is their quick version of borscht, and they use beef stock, though vegetable stock makes it vegetarian without changing anything else.
The beetroot goes into the pan twice, and that is the part worth copying. 400g cooks right through and turns soft and sweet, then the last 100g goes in at the end and is only warmed. Those late pieces keep their bite and their colour.
Hairy Bikers Beetroot Soup
Description
Dill and a spoonful of soured cream go on at the table, which is what turns this into borscht. Below that sit carrot, celery, potato and shredded cabbage, simmered in beef stock with cooked beetroot. This Hairy Bikers beetroot soup serves four.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Start the vegetables: Heat the oil or butter in a large saucepan. Add the carrot, onion, celery, potatoes and 400g of the beetroot. Cook for several minutes, until everything softens and starts to brown at the edges.
- Add the stock: Pour in the stock and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the cabbage: Stir in the shredded cabbage and the garlic, then cook for another 15 minutes.
- Finish the beetroot: Add the last 100g of beetroot and cook just until it is heated through.
- Serve: Ladle into bowls, scatter over the chopped dill and add a spoonful of crème fraîche or soured cream to each.
FAQs
Can I use raw beetroot instead of cooked?
Yes, though it changes the timing rather than the recipe. Raw beetroot needs peeling and dicing, then a good 25 to 30 minutes in the pan before it softens, so add it all at the start and give the soup longer.
Their borscht in Meat Feasts works that way, with about 450g of raw beetroot, 1.5 litres of beef stock and slices of griddled sirloin on top. Ready cooked is simply the shortcut, and Make It Easy is a book built on shortcuts.
Is beetroot soup the same as borscht?
Near enough, and the book says as much. Borscht is the Eastern European name for it, and versions change from country to country, though the dill and soured cream on top are what most people picture.
The vegetables here are the giveaway: beetroot, cabbage, potato and beef stock is the standard combination across the region. Their Reuben sandwich belongs to the same food family, built on rye bread, sauerkraut and dill pickles.
Will it stain everything?
Yes, so wear an apron and use a board you do not mind marking. Cooked beetroot bleeds the moment you cut it, and it goes into wood and cloth fast.
A plastic board rinsed straight away is the easy answer. Use cold water first, because hot water sets the colour, which is the opposite of what most people reach for.
How do I make it more filling?
Add shredded roast beef at the very end, which the book suggests, especially if you have leftovers sitting in the fridge. It turns a light bowl into a proper meal.
Tinned corned beef does the same job for less money, and their corned beef hotpot shows how far that tin can stretch. Either way the meat goes in at the finish, not the start.
Does the soured cream have to go on?
It does more than decorate. Beetroot is sweet and earthy, and the sourness cuts straight through it, which is why borscht arrives with something white on top wherever you eat it.
The book uses half-fat crème fraîche to hold the bowl at 234 calories. Natural yoghurt works, or full-fat soured cream if you are not counting. Their mulligatawny soup uses yoghurt the same way, against spice rather than sweetness.
