Beetroot, Orange and Mustard Soup - Easy, Bright and Delicious
This recipe is inspired by Beetroot and orange soup with mustard seeds, a flavoursome and elegant soup. I used to make a quicker version of it with cooked beetroot. But my old version and the original both contain 50g of butter. The version doesn’t use butter and so it’s now vegan too.
I absolutely love butter. Everything’s better with butter. But when a dish is as full of bright flavours as this, you can swap out the butter for something more heart-healthy, i.e. something lower in saturated fat. I replaced the butter here with sunflower oil. And rather than using pre-cooked beetroot I roasted some in olive oil.
The result is still a bright flavourful soup. That’s just that bit healthier.
Beetroot, Orange and Mustard Soup
Yield: 2 - 4 (7 - 8 soup ladles)
Suitable for: Gluten-free diet
Ingredients:
- 400g beetroot, trimmed, peeled and sliced into 2″ chunks
- 2 onion, sliced thinly
- 2 celery sticks, sliced
- 1 large garlic clove, crushed
- extra virgin olive oil
- sunflower oil
- 1 orange
- red wine vinegar
- balsamic vinegar
- Dijon mustard
- wholegrain mustard
- 600ml vegetable stock
- salt & black pepper
Instructions:
Roast the beetroot
Turn the oven on to 200° C. Rub a little olive oil on a roasting tin. Add in the chopped beetroot. Pour over a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, a splash of balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix around the beetroot so that they are all well covered in the oil. It’s a good idea to wear gloves when handling beetroot. Leave the beetroot to cook for 1 hour - or until a knife can easily pass through the slices.Make the soup
About 10 minutes before the beetroot has finished roasting, heat one tablespoon of sunflower oil in a saucepan. Reduce to a gentle heat and add the onions and celery. Stir around well. Cover and leave to cook for 5 minutes, or until they are translucent and softened. Stir in the garlic, cover and leave for a further 5 minutes to cook.- Add in the roasted beetroot. Use a potato masher to mash the roasted beetroot into the rest of the vegetables. Stir in the vegetable stock and a tablespoon of red wine vinegar. Turn the heat on high and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to moderate and allow simmer for 8 minutes.
Get the flavours together
While the soup is simmering, zest and juice the orange. Add a pinch of the orange zest into the orange juice. Fry the rest of the orange zest. Heat a pan to moderate. You can rub in a little sunflower oil into the pan - but it’s not necessary. Fry the zest quickly on a moderate heat. You will know it’s done by the smell, a warm, bright, fragrant orange smell. Transfer to a saucer until ready to use- When the soup is ready, turn off the heat and blend until smooth(ish). Stir in a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, a good pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper, and the orange juice. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if necessary.
To serve
Ladle the soup into bowls or cups. Top each with a half teaspoon of wholegrain mustard and a good pinch of fried fragrant orange zest.
Enjoy!
