Nothing Beets This Soup!

Ahh, the splendour of a sunny day in autumn, where everyone is just sucking in those last rays of light before the bleak winter sets in! What better way to end such a day, than by enjoying a heartwarming soup? Yes, I'm in a soupy state of mind today and I want to share this delicious beetroot soup with you. As I understand, it's not quite a borscht as they make 'em in Russia, but a soup as the Danish film producer at Zentropa, Peter Aalbæk whips it up. So once again, I'm passing on a recipe with my own touches. I love the thought of someone else doing their thing with my recipe too, so feel free to inform me of your own improvements:-)

(Serves two people):

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2 large beetroots in small chunks

2 carrots (optional, and treated the same as above)

1 onion

2 cloves of garlic

Small 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds - best buddies with beetroots!

1/2 litre meat stock (I use veal stock)

Chop up the onions and garlic and fry them in some olive oil in a large saucepan with the caraway seeds. Then add the beetroots & carrots and leave for five mins. Now you want some juice to enter the game, so add the stock and maybe a splash of water. Leave to boil for 20-30 mins. and check if the veggies have turned soft. If so, pour the whole lot into your blender and give it a good spin. When it's nice and creamy, return it to the saucepan and leave it on medium heat, while you prepare the trimmings: Almond pesto and goat cheese nibbles:

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PESTO: Turn on the oven at 220 degrees. Blend up 1 decilitre of peeled and roasted almonds with 1 clove of garlic, a big handful of parsley, lemon juice & rind, grated parmesan cheese, olive oil and salt. You might need to add a little extra of this or that to suit your own taste. I like it a bit corse and dryish, not soaked in oil as many do.

GOAT CHEESE NIBBLES: Slice up some stale bread thinly, or as I do, stale rolls. Add a slice of goat cheese from a roll on each slice and give each "nibble" a bit of fresh rosemary, salt and olive oil. Crisp them up in the oven, take them out and sprinkle with runny honey.

Now you're ready to serve the sweet and caraway-spiced soup with your trimmings and a blob or two of ricotta cheese.

If that doesn't do it for you, I'm afraid nothing else will.