Last week, I got caught in the major storms that hit Sydney. It rained. And then it rained some more. And it didn't stop raining! How my old wreck of a car managed to survive the flash flooding I will never know.
Winter has certainly made a grand entrance!
On top of the rain, it was windy and all I kept on thinking was that I needed to settle down in front of the T.V. with a big bowl of soup. Soup is my rescue food in the winter time. I make batches of it and freeze it and then reheat it again as needed. A nice piece of crusty bread and your meal is complete.
I wanted to experiment this time by getting out of my comfort zone and doing something different.
I recently managed to get hold of a Delicious magazine form the UK. They had a special feature on soups and I was "intrigued" by a recipe that used beetroot and apple as part of the ingredients.
I had a look in the fridge and realised I had no apples so I adapted the recipe and made it with some Beurre Bosc pears instead. In a moment of pure genius I called it "beetroot and pear soup"!
Without sounding like a soul-less robot this is really a delicious soup. It's healthy, colourful and full of fibre.
I've never tried borscht before but now I am itching to use beetroot as a soup ingredient in the near future.
Years ago (and I mean a long time ago), you would never have found me adding fruits such as pears and apples to soups.
In this case, the pears provided a wonderful sweetness against the earthy taste of the beetroot.
Crumble some goat's cheese or feta on top and there you're set for a comforting evening ahead.
Pin it- 2 tbsps of olive oil
- 1 small carrot finely diced
- 1 small red onion finely diced
- 1 celery stalk, finely diced
- 3 cloves of minced garlic
- 3 bulbs of raw beetroot, peeled and cubed
- 2 Buerre Bosc Pears, peeled, cored and cubed
- 1 litre of hot chicken stock
- Heat the olive oil in a heavy sauce pan and saute the carrot, celery, onion and garlic until softened-approx 5 minutes.
- Add the beetroot and pears and give everything a good stir for a few minutes
- Add the chicken stock, bring to the boil and then allow the mixture to simmer for a good 50 minutes – 1 hour on a medium heat, ensuring the beetroot is tender and cooked through
- Once cooked and slightly cooled, whizz the mixture through a blender, food processor or stick blender ensuring everything is smooth.
- Serve with crumbled goats cheese and sprigs of dill and crusty bread
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