roasted beetroot soup with horseradish cream

Two fantastic roots take centre stage here: the sharp, hot tang of horseradish is the best foil I know to beetroot’s earthy sweetness. The resulting soup, though easy to make, is really very elegant.

SERVES 4-6

1kg* beetroot

4 garlic cloves (unpeeled), bashed

2-3 sprigs of thyme

1 bay leaf

3 tablespoons olive or rapeseed oil

1 litre vegetable stock

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE HORSERADISH CREAM

3-4cm** piece of fresh horseradish, peeled and freshly grated (or 1 tablespoon creamed horseradish)

200ml*** soured cream, crème fraîche or thick, plain yoghurt (full fat)

TO FINISH

Dill fronds

Preheat the oven to 200°C****/Gas Mark 6. Scrub the beetroot well but leave them whole. Place them in a roasting tin and scatter around the garlic, thyme and bay leaf. Trickle on the oil and season well with salt and pepper. Mix everything together with your hands so that it is well coated. Pour a wine glass of water into the tin and cover tightly with foil. Roast until the beetroot are tender when pierced with a knife — about an hour depending on the size of the beetroot.

While the beetroot are roasting, make the horseradish cream: in a bowl, mix the grated (or creamed) horseradish with the soured cream, crème fraîche or yoghurt.

Remove the foil from the roasting tin and leave the beetroot until they are cool enough to handle. Top and tail them and peel or rub off the skins — they should slip off easily. Roughly chop the beetroot.

Squeeze the soft garlic from the skins and place in a blender with the beetroot. Process with enough of the stock to make a smooth purée, then transfer to a saucepan and thin further with stock to get the texture you like.

Heat through, over a medium heat, till thoroughly hot but not boiling. Adjust the seasoning to taste. Serve the soup in warm bowls with a dollop of horseradish cream and the dill scattered on top.

* 1kg = 2.2 lbs

** 3-4cm = 1-1.5 inches

*** 200ml = 6-7 oz

**** 200°C = roughly 400°F

Recipe copied from “River Cottage Veg Every Day!”

First published in Great Britain 2011 by Bloomsbury Publishing

Text © 2011 by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Photography © 2011 by Simon Wheeler

mai serrallach’s gazpacho with sweet, ripe tomatoes

This recipe is dedicated to the memory of Dervila Serrallach Giblin, to her husband Cesc and their family. Dervila, who died far too young, was a great friend to Avoca and is hugely missed in Dublin, Barcelona and beyond. This is her mother-in-law’s fantastic recipe for gazpacho.

INGREDIENTS

serves 4-6

2kg* large ripe tomatoes

1 slice stale artisan white bread

150ml good quality extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

For the garnish

1 red onion/2 shallots

3tbsp white wine vinegar**

croutons

1 red pepper

1 cucumber

sprig of mint

Gazpacho is best served for lunch on a hot summer’s day. Make it in high season with ripe or slightly over-ripe tomatoes that are a deep red and heavy with flavour. Small greeny orange tomatoes won’t work. Use 1/2-2 large tomatoes per person. Choose a good quality extra virgin olive oil.

To make

Cut the bread into cubes and gently soak. Skin the tomatoes*** and discard the skins.

Place the flesh of the tomatoes in a food processor and blitz. Add plenty of sea salt, freshly ground black peppery, soaked bread and garlic and blitz again. Transfer into a bowl and add the olive oil in a slow trickle, whisking all the time. Chill in the fridge for a few hours.

To make the garnish

Chop the red onion or shallots very finely and marinate in white wine vinegar for as long as possible. Dice the red pepper. Peel and dice the cucumber. Fry or grill the croutons until they are golden.****

To serve

Serve cold and place all or as many of the garnishes as you are using on top of the soup before serving. A sprig of mint will give aroma, taste and colour.

KEY TO SUCCESS

A purist would suggest grating the tomatoes with an old-fashioned cheese grater, pushing the flesh through and discarding the skins.

* 2kg = roughly 4.5lb

** It’s my understanding that grape wine vinegar is one of those items that might not be vegan-friendly; I’ve used rice wine vinegar in this recipe before, and it was just fine. Feel free to use whichever one works for you.

***  Here are instructions on how to quickly peel a tomato.

**** The photo is of last night’s leftovers, and because I had run out of pan-fried croutons, I crumbled some Mary’s Gone Crackers in the bowl for a toasty crunch.

Recipe copied from “A Year at Avoca: A Cookbook”

Published in Ireland in 2010 by Gloss Publications Ltd

Text © Avoca

Photograph is my own

pea and parsley soup

Using parsley instead of the more conventional mint gives this summer soup a deeper, slightly less sweet flavour. It’s great hot or cold. I like it garnished with a few whole peas – especially really small and sweet raw ones. If you have some pea shoots, they look beautiful scattered over the finished soup too.

SERVES 4

1 tablespoon olive oil or rapeseed oil, plus extra to trickle

20g butter*

1 medium onion, finely chopped

A few sprigs of thyme, leaves only, chopped

1 litre vegetable stock

500g** fresh shelled peas, or frozen peas

20g flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

A few mint leaves, shredded, to finish (optional)

Heat oil and butter in a large saucepan over a medium-low heat and sweat the onion with thyme until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.

Add the stock, peas (reserving a handful to finish the soup if you like) and parsley. Season with salt and pepper, bring to a simmer and cook for 5-10 minutes, or until the peas are very tender.

Cool slightly, then purée the soup in a food processor or blender, or with a stick blender, until very smooth – you may need to do this in two batches if you are using a processor or free-standing blender. Return the soup to the pan, adjust the seasoning and heat through.

Ladle the soup into warmed bowls. If you have some fresh, raw peas, scatter a few on top (or you could use blanched frozen peas). Add the mint, if using, trickle over a little olive oil or rapeseed oil and serve.

Alternatively, you can let the soup go cold, then chill it lightly before serving – add the scattering of peas and mint, if using, and trickle oil at the last minute.

* If you use vegetable butter or just more oil, this recipe will be vegan.

** Here’s a gram converter for equivalent in tablespoons, and in cups.

Recipe copied from “River Cottage Veg Every Day!”

First published in Great Britain 2011 by Bloomsbury Publishing

Text © 2011 by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Photography © 2011 by Simon Wheeler

vegetable stock

A good vegetable stock, built around the deep savoury notes of bay and celery and the delicate sweetness of onion and carrot, is invaluable for giving body to many soups. You’ll also find it indispensable for stews, risottos, gratins and curries. I always try to keep some of this in the freezer – though it can be rustled up in no time if you have the ingredients to hand.

MAKES ABOUT 1.5 LITRES

2 large or 3 medium onions

3 large or 4 medium carrots

3-4 celery stalks

1 garlic clove

1 tablespoon rapeseed oil

1 or 2 bay leaves, roughly torn

A sprig of thyme/and or some parsley stalks, if you have them

A few black peppercorns

1/2 small glass dry white wine (optional)

Coarsely grate the onions, carrots, celery and garlic – or chop them, if you prefer, but in fairly small pieces. Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat and tip in the vegetables, garlic, herbs and peppercorns. Sauté, stirring from time to time, for about 5 minutes or until the veg have softened slightly (you’re largely doing this to mellow the raw onion).

Add the wine, if you are using it, then 1.75 litres boiling water from the kettle. Bring back to the boil and simmer, uncovered. If all your veg were grated, the stock will be ready in about 10 minutes. If they were in larger chunks, give it 20-30 minutes. Either way, strain the stock and use straight away, or cool, then refrigerate or freeze.

VARIANTION

Mushroom stock

This stock has an extra kick of ‘shroomy flavour. It’s ideal for a mushroom soup, or in a mushroom risotto. However, you can use it in almost any veg soup to give a good deep, earthy base. Make the stock as above, but add about 200g* fresh, sliced mushrooms to the other veg – use well-flavoured types such as chestnut, shitake or big open-cap varieties. In addition, if you’re including any dried mushrooms in the dish the stock is to be used in, be sure to add the soaking liquid to the stock, first straining it through muslin (to remove any grit).

* 200g is 0.84 of a cup

Recipe copied from “River Cottage Veg Every Day!”

First published in Great Britain 2011 by Bloomsbury Publishing

Text © 2011 by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Photography © 2011 by Simon Wheeler