Citrus recipes

Scallops in a spicy mandarin and coconut broth

10 minutes

Cake recipes

Caramelised mandarin tart with cardamom

45 minutes

Mussels and squid in fresh-basil pesto with burst vine tomatoes

30 minutes

Cherry, creme de cassis and sticky marshmallow

Duck recipes

Spiced roast-duck steaks with Thai curry sauce

20 minutes

Paprika veal and mushrooms with noodles

15 minutes

Gnocchi recipes

Sweet-potato gnocchi in lemony creme fraiche

35 minutes

Spicy pumpkin and gooseberry broth

10 minutes

A cup of caramel, chocolate and fruit

10 minutes

Soup recipes

Cold beetroot soup

By Phillippa Cheifitz

Serves 6 to 8

Difficulty Easy

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cooking Time 1 hour

Ingredients

6-8 medium beetroots
8 cups water
1 T salt, plus extra to season
2 T sugar
freshly ground black pepper, to season

for serving:

thick sour cream or yoghurt
chopped cucumber
chopped fresh dill or snipped chives
thinly sliced radishes
chopped or sliced hard-boiled egg

Method

1. Wash the beetroots well, but don’t peel. Trim the stalks but leave attached. Place in a saucepan with the water and salt. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and cook, covered, for about an hour or until tender. Strain the soup and stir in the sugar and lemon juice.

2. Check to see that it has a good sweet-sour balance, and correct if necessary.

3. As soon as the beetroots are cool enough to handle, slip off the skins and chop. Blend the chopped beetroot with the liquid until smooth. Check the seasoning and sweet-sour balance. Chill well.

4. Serve with bowls of accompaniments to add at the table.

Per serving: 444.4kJ, 3.5g protein, 1.6g fat, 19.7g carbs

Find more soup recipes here.

More information:
In Poland, Christmas Eve is a day of fasting. But as soon as the first star, a symbol of the Star of Bethlehem, appears, the feasting begins. Christmas supper is strictly a family occasion and consists of 12 courses, one for each of the 12 apostles. One of the dishes is beetroot soup. Here’s a cold version to suit our hot summers.

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Scallops in a spicy mandarin and coconut broth

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Bread-and-butter pudding

Cherry, creme de cassis and sticky marshmallow

Spiced roast-duck steaks with Thai curry sauce

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Sweet-potato gnocchi in lemony creme fraiche

Spicy pumpkin and gooseberry broth

A cup of caramel, chocolate and fruit