Cast Iron

Carrot Beet Soup

February 21, 2010
4
1 Ratings
  • Serves 8-12
Author Notes

This soup recipe is in honor and mourning of the recently lost Gourmet magazine. The November 2009 issue (as I am sure most of you know) is their last issue ever. It ran from the year that Pearl Harbor was attacked, 1941 to now, 2009. Americans’ food choices and methods of cooking have changed much since those early days of Gourmet. Unlike back then, we don’t associate haute cuisine anymore solely with French food. We now see the beauty and decadence of many different cuisines from the humblest rice and beans to the pristine austerity of sushi.

This soup caught my eye mostly because of the beautiful color (if you follow or look at some of my other posts, I have a thing for orange hued soups/curries). I also have not been the biggest fan of beets since I have tasted them. They were one of the other abhored vegetables that I would never touch when growing up. Mixing them with carrots and pureeing them into soup seemed like a good way to experience them again. As you can see, this soup is NOT orange but magenta. In fact, my childhood room is painted a color very similiar to this. I made some tweaks to Gourmet’s recipe and in the end, it was a delicious fall/winter day soup. I also love it because there is no crazy chopping and in the end it gets pureed anyway! —testkitchenette

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Soup
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 red onions, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, crushed
  • 3 pounds carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 1 pound beets, peeled and chopped
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 7 cups low/no salt vegetable/chicken stock
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 cup half and half/heavy cream
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Topping
  • fresh dill
  • sour cream mixed to taste with horseradish and salt and pepper
Directions
  1. Heat oil over medium in a heavy stockpot (I used my enameled cast iron) and cook onions and thyme for about 3 minutes, until onions are softened. Add beets, carrots, 2 tsp salt, black pepper, and broth. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 25 minutes until veggies are easily pierced with a fork. Puree in a blender and transfer back to pot. Add vinegar, mustard, and then stir in the half and half. Taste for seasonig and bring back to temperature. Ladle into bowls and garnish with dill and horseradish sour cream. Some pumpernickel/rye bread would go nicely.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • testkitchenette
    testkitchenette
  • Lizthechef
    Lizthechef
  • TiggyBee
    TiggyBee

3 Reviews

testkitchenette February 27, 2011
Thank you ladies!
 
Lizthechef February 27, 2011
Beautiful - this is a winner awaiting discovery!
 
TiggyBee February 26, 2011
What a great soup!!