Actually you can serve this soup either hot or cold, but I love it chilled for a sweet yet savoury, refreshing start to a meal. It comes - slightly adapted - from one of my very early books, Not Just a Load of Old Lentils, now out of print.
Ingredients
Serves 4
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
450g (1 lb) beetroot, cooked, skinned and roughly diced
1 piece of pared lemon rind
11/2pints (900 ml) water or light vegetable stock
juice of ½ lemon
salt and freshly ground black pepper
to serve
soured cream
chopped chives, dill or mint
Method
Saute the onion in the oil in a large saucepan for 10 minutes, until soft but not brown, then add the potato and cook, covered, for a further 5 minutes, again without browning. Add the beetroot, lemon rind and the stock or water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the potato is soft. Puree in a food processor or blender until perfectly smooth, then return to the saucepan. Check the consistency, adding a little more water if necessary. Then add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste remembering that it you're chilling it this will dull the flavour a bit. Either re-heat and serve hot, or chill completely before serving. Either way, top each bowlful with a swirl of soured cream and chopped fresh herbs of your choice.
Reproduced by kind permission of Rose Elliott from her book Fast, Fresh and Fabulous published by Â鶹Éç Books
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