Beetroot is one of the centers of the Russian culinary universe, a phenomenon so commonplace that its resonant originality is sometimes lost behind this routine.
Alexey Zimin Brand-chef of the Ragout cafe chain, gastronomic columnist, editor-in-chief of the Afisha-Food magazine. Graduated from Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. Author of the books Market Kitchen, Supermarket Kitchen (Eksmo, 2012, 2013) and Kitchen Forever (Afisha, 2012).
“It has a lot of advantages: a sweetish taste, a variety of textures – from crispy to creamy, depending on the degree of readiness, and, of course, color – this root crop is almost the only one in our gastronomic palette that has an elegant color scheme. Beetroot goes well with any product, it is not embarrassed by any type of partnership. But she also has disadvantages. Its taste and color are often unnecessarily aggressive. The sweetness is over the top and there is a distinct earthy tone to the aroma. Actually, the process of its preparation is various forms of lowering the volume, mitigating aggression. The cook here is like a tuner, a sound engineer at the console, moving the equalizer knobs.
Beets are not embarrassed by any type of partnership
If you need beets for salads, it is better not to boil them, but bake them in foil with a little vegetable oil: then it loses moisture and gains flavor, much like wine does when evaporating. To get rid of perfumery beetroot sweetness, you can boil it with the addition of vinegar, and even out the sweet tone by adding granulated sugar to the broth. It will make the sweetness setting straighter, and if not overdone with the amount, thinner and more delicate.
There are foods that beets have an intimate alliance with, as if they were twins separated at birth. First of all, it is cheese, preferably goat – with its sour milk persistence, garlic, teasing beet sweetness with spicy bitterness, and oily nuts of any kind, making the taste of beets more convex and cheerful. And for the sake of achieving this cheerfulness and this bulge, it’s worth the trouble.
Beet cream with goat cheese
For 4-6 people
Preparation: 35-40 minutes
Ingredients
- 400 g beet
- 100 г моркови
- 1 bulb
- 2 tbsp. spoons of tomato puree
- 100 g goat cheese
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp. tablespoons chopped parsley
- 200 mL of creamy cream
- 1 l chicken broth
- 3 tbsp. tablespoons of sunflower oil
- 1 st. a spoonful of pine nuts
Preparation
Mix garlic puree and finely chopped parsley in a bowl with goat cheese and set aside.
Cut beets, carrots and onions into small cubes and fry in a saucepan in refined sunflower oil until all vegetables are soft, then add tomato puree and simmer for another minute.
Pour the chicken broth into the saucepan and cook the vegetables in it for 5 minutes, stirring with a spatula.
Send the finished soup to a blender, mix it with cream and turn it into ruby cream with a blender.
Pour this cream back into the saucepan and bring to a boil.
Pour into bowls, each adding a tablespoon of goat cheese with garlic and a few pine nuts.