Beetroot and Roasted Red Onion Soup

Among my many, varied and mostly useless talents, I have an uncanny knack for finding a song for any occasion. You say a word, I have a song for it. Which is why I can often be found moonwalking in my kitchen whilst singing ‘Beetroot, just beetroot…’, in the manner of Michael Jackson.

We’ve told you before how much we love the beat – I mean the beet – and this recipe for Beetroot and Roasted Red Onion Soup is another in our ongoing love affair with this wonderful vegetable.

This soup packs a cracking nutritional punch and it will make you run faster too. Use chilli flakes if you want it spicy. Leave them out if you’d prefer the natural sweet taste of the roasted beets to dominate. This soup is great served hot or cold and, like most of our recipes, it’s easy peasy to make and freezes well if you scale up the quantities.

Don’t waste the greens, by the way – they’re really good for you. Give your body proof positive that you love it by using them them to make our Beet Greens and Ginger Smoothie.

Beetroot and Roasted Red Onion Soup
Serves 4

Ingredients
4 beetroot, scrubbed and cut into quarters
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 red onions, roughly sliced
75ml tomato puree
Large handful fresh rosemary, chopped
1 teaspoon chilli flakes (optional)
200ml or more hot water (see point 6 below)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
1 First, preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C/Gas Mark 6
2 Place the beetroot in a large roasting tin with 1 tablespoon olive oil, the rosemary and chilli flakes (if using). Start roasting the beets first.
3 Place the sliced red onions in another roasting tin with the rest of the olive oil. After the beets have been in the oven for about 20 minutes, pop the onions in too.
4 Roast the beetroot for 40-45 minutes in total, until they’re easy to pierce with a fork. The onions should be cooked now and starting to go crispy.
5 Allow the beetroot to cool enough to handle, then rub the skin off with some kitchen paper.
6 Keeping some of the crispy onions aside for garnish, place the beetroot, the rest of the onions, tomato paste and about 200ml hot water in a blender and whizz until smooth. Add more water as required until it reaches the right soupy consistency for you.
7 Serve hot or cold, garnished with the crispy red onions.