Beetroot Soup with Feta Cheese

This is a classic 'winter warmer' of a soup, hearty and filling, where the sweetness of the cooked beetroot (red beets) is balanced by a little acidity from a home-made tomato sauce and the saltiness of the Greek Feta cheese.

Beetroot Soup with Feta Cheese

Serves: 4-6

Cooked beetroot (red beets), like so many root vegetables ends-up being much sweeter in flavour than most people think. This soup is all about balancing the sweetness of the beetroot with the saltiness of the Feta cheese.

Ingredients:

For the Roasted Tomato Sauce Base:

300g (2/3 lb) tomatoes, halved
1 garlic cloves, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

For the Soup:

4 medium beetroot (choose apple-sized ones) [about 500g (1 lb) in total]
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
500ml (2 cups) strong stock (beef for preference, but strong chicken stock or vegetable stock will do)

125g (4 oz) Greek Feta cheese
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Method:

Begin with the roasted tomato sauce: Halve the tomatoes then arrange , cut side uppermost in a roasting tin then lay a sliver of garlic on each. Drizzle the oil over the top. Season well with the salt and black pepper then transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180ºC and roast for about 40 minutes, or until the tomatoes are soft and the skins are slightly charred.

Remove from the oven then allow to cool and rub through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl. This is best used immediately, but can be stored for a few days if poured into a clean jar and kept, closed, in the refrigerator.

For the Soup: Peel the beetroot then grate coarsely. Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion and sweat down gently for about 8 minutes, or until soft. Now add the beetroot along with the stock and bring the mixture to a boil.

Season to taste with salt and black pepper then reduce to a simmer and cook gently, covered for about 10 minutes, or until the beetroot is tender.

Stir in the tomato sauce at this point and allow to heat through. Take off the heat and process the soup mixture until completely smooth. Pour back into the pan, adjust the seasonings to taste then allow the soup to gently heat through (but do not boil).

Divide between warmed soup bowls and crumble over the Feta cheese. Serve immediately, accompanied by generous chunks of crusty bread.

For hundreds more classic soup recipes, see the Celtnet Soup Recipes page with over 1000 recipes for different soups from across the globe.