Make Ahead

Roasted Red Beet, Blood Orange and Ginger Soup with Orange Crème Fraîche

by:
February 22, 2010
4.3
3 Ratings
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

Beets: I cannot help but be seduced by their brilliant colors and their nutritional riches, but their flavor has been a more trying relationship. With some will I have managed to develop a taste for these beautiful vegetables and discovered along the way that their earthy flavor is nicely offeset when combined with a range of acidic, spicy and sweet flavors. This soup plays off of these tastes, combining beets with citrus, ginger, chile and honey. —TasteFood

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Ingredients
  • Roasted Red Beet, Blood Orange and Ginger Soup
  • 4 large red beets
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • 1 small serrano chile pepper, stemmed, seeded, finely chopped, about 2 tablespoons
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup freshly squeezed blood orange juice
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves, plus additional whole leaves for garnish
  • Orange Crème Fraîche (recipe below)
  • 2 blood orange slices, cut in half
  • Orange Crème Fraîche
  • 1/2 cup crème fraîche (or Greek-style whole milk yogurt)
  • 2 tablespoons orange juice
Directions
  1. Roasted Red Beet, Blood Orange and Ginger Soup
  2. Preheat oven to 375 F. Trim the tops and ends of the beets. Place in a baking dish and fill water up to 1" in bottom of dish. Roast beets in oven until tender, about 1 hour. Remove and cool. Peel off skin and coarsely chop beets.
  3. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until nearly translucent without coloring, about 3 minutes. Add ginger, garlic and serrano chile; sauté 30 seconds. Add water and beets. Cover and simmer 10 minutes; the vegetables should be very soft. Cool slightly.
  4. Transfer to bowl of food processor or blender. Add blood orange juice and purée until smooth. Return to saucepan. (If soup is too thick, thin to desired consistency with additional orange juice. It should not be too thin.) Stir in lime juice and honey. Add salt and pepper and taste to adjust seasoning.
  5. Serve warm (not hot) or at room temperature. Before serving stir in chopped cilantro.
  6. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with a spoonful of Orange Crème Fraîche. Garnish with whole cilantro leaves and a slice of blood orange.
  7. Note: Freshly squeezed orange juice may be substituted for blood orange juice.
  1. Orange Crème Fraîche
  2. Combine crème fraîche and orange juice in a small bowl.
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8 Reviews

Oui, C. November 21, 2010
Made it....LOVED IT....making it again for Thanksgiving! Thanks Lynda, for a terrific recipe. - S
TasteFood November 21, 2010
Great - I am so happy you liked it. Beets are a beautiful addition to the holiday table. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Oui, C. November 12, 2010
I've been wondering what to do with the last beets I pulled from my garden the other day, roasted, peeled and popped into the fridge. Will be making this great sounding soup for a dinner party tomorrow night. THX - S
Cordelia February 26, 2010
it almost sounds like it can be a drink as well - yummy. I might be inspired.....I especially like that you roast the beets first. And I also want a dress with this combination of colors :)
TasteFood February 26, 2010
I am right there with you regarding the colors, except as a redhead I was told never to wear magenta...
Aliwaks February 23, 2010
That is a stunning photo!!!
mrslarkin February 22, 2010
What great flavor combinations!
TheWimpyVegetarian February 22, 2010
This looks and sounds GREAT! Really yummy. My husband can't stand beets, but I'm going to have to make this soup for me.