Borscht with horseradish cream recipe

Borscht is beetroot soup - colourful, delicious and packed with goodness!

Ingredients

For the soup:

• 1kg (2¼ lb) raw beetroot
• 45g (1½ oz) unsalted butter
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 sticks celery, trimmed and chopped
• 1 small bulb of fennel, trimmed and chopped
• 3 large tomatoes, skinned and chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Juice of 1 lemon

For the cream:

• 1 tsp hot horseradish
• 200g pot crème fraîche
• Fennel or dill fronds, for garnish

Method

1. Wearing rubber gloves (to stop your hands going pink), peel the beetroot, then grate it with the fine-grating blade of a food processor. Or grate by hand.
2. Heat the butter in a large pan, add the onion, celery and fennel and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes until softened.
3. Add beetroot to the pan and cover with 1.3 ltr (2¼ pints) water. Bring to boil and simmer for 5 minutes, then add the tomato and cook for 10 minutes.
4. 4 Purée the soup in batches in a food processor or liquidiser, then push through a sieve if you prefer, then put it back into the pan. Add plenty of seasoning and lemon juice to taste.
5. 5 To make the cream: Mix the horseradish into the crème fraîche. Serve the soup in bowls and spoon a dollop of horseradish cream in the middle of each. Garnish with fennel or dill fronds.