We’d picked up a large bunch of beets at the store last week and cooked them all up at once. After making a couple of different dishes, we were left a single huge beet — about 3/4 of a pound — which we figured was perfect for beet soup. Now, we don’t normally make beet soup, and it wasn’t even something we thought about until we had some great beet soup at Revel in Silver City, NM. After eating there, we quickly recreated their Beet Soup with Fennel and Coriander Seeds, but today, we’ll make a Beet and Caraway Soup.
While we just made up this recipe, we’re sure there are lots and lots of beet and caraway soup recipes out there (beets and caraway are such a natural pairing), but this is ours: 100%. And, just to make it look a bit fancy, we graced our soup with a round of goat cheese and toasted walnuts. We think it really helped, but we’ll list those two items as optional.
Beet and Caraway Soup
Ingredients
- 2 Tbs canola oil
- 2 tsp caraway seeds
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- Pinch red pepper flake
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup diced onion
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 1 pound beets cooked, peeled, and cut into chunks
- 1-2 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 ounce goat cheese cut into rounds, optional
- 1/4 cup toasted walnuts
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add caraway and fennel seeds and red pepper flake and cook, stirring, until a few seeds pop or they smell very fragrant.
- Add onion and garlic, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring often, until onion is tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add stock and beets, bring to a simmer, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
- Transfer to a blender and blend smooth. Add balsamic vinegar and blend to combine.
- Taste, and season to taste with salt, pepper, and more vinegar, if needed.
- Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a clean saucepan and warm as necessary.
- Serve, placing a round of goat cheese in the center and sprinkling with toasted walnuts.
Ingredient discussion:
If you haven’t cooked your beets yet, we suggest roasting to concentrate the beet flavor. Simply rub with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, wrap in foil, and bake at 350°F until tender and easily pierced with a sharp knife. Let cool, then use your fingers to slip off the skin. Or, you can simmer them in salted water for about 30-40 minutes. To toast walnuts, simply place them in a skillet over medium heat and shake and stir the pan often for 10-15 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool.
Procedure in detail:
Cook spices. We want to get rid of the raw taste of the caraway and fennel seeds, so heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. When nice and shimmery, add the caraway, fennel, and red pepper flake and cook, stirring until a few seeds pop or they smell very fragrant, about 5 minutes. Don’t let the seeds burn, or your soup will be bitter.
Add onion and garlic. Stir in the onions and garlic all at once, and continue to cook on medium-high, stirring often, until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Since everything will simmer for a while, err on the side of under-cooked at this stage, rather than risking burning or scorching.
Add stock and beets. Pour in the stock and add the chunks of beets. Stir occasionally while the soup comes to a low boil, about 10 minutes.
Simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and let the soup simmer for 20-30 minutes to help meld the flavors of the beets, stock, and spices.
Blend. Transfer the soup to a blender, and blend smooth. If your soup is hot, remember to vent the blender so hot air can escape, preventing the blender from blowing its top and making a mini red volcano in your kitchen.
Season. Add about a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar, blend it in, and taste the soup. Add more vinegar, salt, and pepper as needed, blending to combine before tasting again. Depending on the soup, we might do this taste-season-blend routine a half a dozen times before the soup is to our liking. You should, too; this is your chance to make your soup the best it can be.
Strain. We always do this for smooth soups. It’s not that much extra trouble. While the soup is blending, we quick wash and dry the saucepan. After that, it’s as simple as pouring the soup through a fine mesh strainer to remove any pieces that didn’t blend smooth. We think this simple step really helps the texture of the soup.
Serve. Ladle into bowls and carefully set a round of goat cheese in the middle. Top with toasted walnut pieces and serve immediately.
Since we both love beets, it’s no surprise that we really liked this soup. The flavor of the caraway was there without being overpowering, and the red pepper flake gave the soup just the slightest bit of heat. We liked the way the cheese melted into the soup, adding a creamy taste and texture, while the nuts added just a bit of crunch. Five stars.
