How to make a delicious “summer” soup with baked beets

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A small amount of alcohol gives the soup an incredible aftertaste, but you can replace the alcohol with aromatic vinegar – apple cider, tarragon-infused or simply white wine vinegar. Beets can be boiled, but when baked, it retains an interesting sweet taste.

*If you put a layer of coarse salt in the baking dish, the beets will bake much faster.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg of beets
• 1 carrot
• 1 red onion
• 1 stalk of celery
• 50 g of sour cream
• 30 g of ginger root
• 2–3 green onion feathers
• 1 l of vegetable broth
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. apple or wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp. gin (optional)
• 5–6 dried juniper berries
• 1 star anise
• 1/4 tsp. dried ground ginger
• pinch of nutmeg
• pinch of ground cinnamon
• pinch of ground cloves
• pinch of ground cardamom
• sea salt to taste

Preparation method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Wrap the beets in foil and bake until cooked in the preheated oven, then peel and cut into small cubes.
3. Peel the red onion and finely chop it.
4. Heat olive oil in a heavy saucepan and fry the onion.
5. Cut the celery into small pieces.
6. Peel the carrots and cut into small cubes.
7. Add the celery and carrots to the onion and fry for 7-8 minutes.
8. Peel the ginger root, grate it on a fine grater and add to the pan with the vegetables.
9. Grind the star anise and juniper in a mortar, add the nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, ground ginger and 1/2 tsp. sea salt, mix everything and add to the vegetables. Stir and heat for a few minutes over low heat.
10. Add 2/3 of the beets to the pan, pour in the hot broth so that all the vegetables are covered with liquid, and cook for 10 minutes.
11. Remove the pan from the heat and chop the vegetables with an immersion blender.
12. Return the pan to the stove, bring the soup to a boil, pour in the vinegar and gin, add salt and let the alcohol evaporate.
13. Finely chop the green onions.
14. Arrange the remaining beet cubes into plates, pour in the soup, sprinkle with onions and serve with sour cream.