A vibrant root-to-leaf beet soup recipe that's swirled with crème fraîche and beet green pistou. Colorful, earthy, and wonderfully savory, this beet soup is an early spring delight. Storage beets, those without their greens, have denser flesh and a deeper sweetness.
For this recipe, fresh beets with their greens attached are best.
This recipe begins with oven-steamed beets. Covered in the oven, the sweetness of the beets concentrates, the beets also take up the olive oil, salt, and pepper for excellent flavor. Afterwards, the beet skin comes off easily under cold running water.
To prep the leeks, rinse very well. Peel back some of the outer layers of the leeks, if they're very sandy, peel back about 4 of the leek layers to expose the sandy part and swish vigorously in a sink filled with cold water. Repeat a few times and give the sand time to settle. Trim the root end and any dark green leaves, and rough chop the rest.
Set a 4-quart Dutch oven or pot over medium heat. When hot, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and then the onions and leeks. Add a pinch each sea salt and black pepper. Cook until onions are translucent, 7 - 10 minutes. Add the beets, sauté briefly, and then add 3 cups broth. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to medium-low for a gentle simmer. Cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Return puree to the pot and set over low heat. If desired, add up to one cup more broth to thin the soup. Take care, because the soup might bubble up and pop at this point. Stir often to release the heat or cover the soup. Add sea salt to taste.
While soup cooks, make the pistou. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse to reduce the greens and garlic. With food processor running, drizzle in olive oil. Add sea salt. Add more salt or olive oil to taste. Spoon pistou into a bowl.
To serve, ladle soup into bowls. Thin crème fraîche with a little bit of water and dollop onto the soup. Use the back of a spoon and make just a few swoops in the soup to swirl. Add a swoosh of pistou. Serve beet soup with extra crème fraîche and pistou on the side.