Think of this soup as a twist on a classic borscht, a borscht without the cabbage. Because after spending a wonderful week in Germany I may be in love with their hearty comfort foods but I am ready to see vegetables other than cabbage for awhile.
Using golden beets is what creates this colour, you will get a redder soup if you use regular beets.
So this rustic soup has many of the similarities of borscht: caraway, potato, beets and dill, but it swaps sweet potato for cabbage and adds fennel and cloves for some extra spice. As with many soups, this gets better the next day or after a week in a freezer.
Beet, Sweet Potato and Dill Soup
(serves 4-6)
Heat a large soup pot to medium low heat and throw your butter in to melt, if you would like to go for the vegan version use olive oil instead.
The easiest way to prep this dish is with your food processor and the slicing attachment. If you don't have one, you can do it by hand or grate all the vegetables instead.
Cut the onion in quarters and pass through the food processor to slice thinly. Add to the pot along with a 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir to coat in the butter and cover with a lid to help them sweat and not brown. Scrub and trim your carrots and slice thinly by passing through the food processor. In a mortar and pestle place the fennel seeds and caraway seeds and grind. Stir the onions and add the carrots, fennel, caraway and cloves. Continue cooking until fragrant.
Scrub and peel the beets. Quarter them and pass them through the slicer. Repeat the same process with the sweet potatoes and then the regular potatoes. Add to the pot topped with the water. Bring to a simmer. Gently simmer for 45 minutes, or until all vegetables are nice and soft.
Allow the soup to cool enough to belnd. Transfer half the soup to a blender and blend until smooth. Return to the pot and season with salt and pepper to your tastes and the dill. Bring back to a gentle simmer so it is nice and hot. Serve.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Looking forward to trying this yummy sounding soup. One thing, I am allergic to dill, what can I substitute? Thanks!
well, what kind of herbs do you like? For a direct substitute ,you want a herb that you should add towards the end of cooking (like chives, basil or parsley).
Alternatively you could add rosemary, sage or thyme at the beginning of cooking when all the ingredients start simmering together.
I would suggest chives or thyme
That looks amazing! I’m a cabbage fan but I love your use of the potatoes instead. And you really had me with the addition of fennel. Yum! I spent a week in Ukraine and fell in love with all the varieties of borscht I had while there.
Usually I am with you on the cabbage thing. I just overdid it a bit. You should see how I currently feel about pork.
Let me know if you make it!