Beetroot, Orange & Mustard Soup
I love this soup. It’s taste is so vibrant and unusual. Orange and beetroot go so well together and the mustard just gives it that little kick…
This abitmoreveg recipe uses pre-cooked beetroot that you can buy in those vacuum-packed packets. I’d never used beetroot in a recipe before. I loved this. I sorta felt I should try cooking the beetroot from scratch rather than using the packet before posting this here but I never got around to it and it would make the recipe messier and it would take longer. I’m sure it would taste better. Home cooked beetroot has a more buttery taste to it. But this soup tastes great anyway – and uses lots of butter. If you would like a version where you cook the beets from scratch just follow the original recipe.
I love this recipe. I tried it only as an experiment and I was amazed by the results. It’s simple to make and full of goodness but it tastes complicated, unusual and delicious. I absolutely love it. And to think I make this with cooked beetroot…
The inspiration for the soup came from this recipe. I was looking for an easy recipe with ingredients I had to hand and as I was searching through various different ingredients I came across Beetroot and orange soup with mustard seeds. I love orange, I love mustard, but until this recipe I was fairly iffy about beetroot, so I decided to add more mustard and orange. I didn’t realize how much flavour the fried orange zest adds – and it really is what makes this something special – but I like the gentle sweet sourness the fresh orange juice give this version. Also I love the smell and taste of the onions and garlic simmering in melted butter, orange juice, a little orange zest, some mustard and a little white wine vinegar. I was actually worried that adding the beetroot would ruin it but, and I was amazed, it made it even better.
The quantities below make about 7 – 8 ladles of soup. Because it’s so flavourful a small bowl of about 1.5 ladle portion is quite satisfying. It makes for a good starter or, if you pair it with a scone or simple sandwich, it makes for a delicious light lunch.
The original receipe uses mustard seeds which you fry for a little bit but after making this a few times I changed my recipe to just use (good) wholegrain mustard because it’s easier and actually I preferred it like that.
I mentioned in a previous recipe about beetroot’s reputation for purifying the blood and improving the health of your liver. What I neglected to mention is that it is also good for lowering blood pressure and it contains a mineral called silica which helps your body make use of calcium, meaning it helps keep your bones strong and so helps prevent osteoporosis. If you want to know more you can visit this website, devoted entirely to the wonder that is beetroot.
Ingredients
- 50g salted butter
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 2 large garlic cloves, crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 generous teaspoon wholegrain mustard (plus more for topping)
- 1 medium-large orange, zested and juiced (strained)
- 500g cooked beetroot, chopped
- 500ml vegetable stock
- wholegrain mustard
Instructions
- In a deep saucepan, melt the butter on a gentle heat. Once melted add the onions. Stir around well. Cover and leave to cook for 2 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic. Increase the heat a little, cover and leave for a further 5 minutes.
- Stir in half the orange juice, the white wine vinegar and a quarter of the orange zest. Cover and leave for a further 5 minutes.
- Stir in the beetroot and mustard. Then pour in the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and leave to simmer for 8 minutes.
- Remove the soup from the heat and blend to a fairly smooth consistency. Leave for 5 minutes to cool a little.
- While the soup is cooling you can fry the orange zest. Use a non-stick pan with just a tiny spray of sunflower oil. And fry for a minute or two on a moderate heat.
- With the soup still warm but no longer piping hot, stir in the rest of the orange juice.
- Ladle into small bowls or cups and top with a little wholegrain mustard and finish with the all important fried orange zest.
