Rose-water-and-pistachio biscuits with buffalo mozzarella, nectarines and basil

10 minutes

Butternut and goat’s-milk cheese risotto

40 minutes

Salmon, lamb crackling and puffed wild rice

Jelly recipes

Meats, black label jelly and truffle oil

Fish recipes

Roasted sweet-potato shavings with chicken and anchovies

35 minutes

Algerian veal stew with spinach and chickpeas

4 hours or overnight

Moroccan recipes

Moroccan chicken tagine with preserved lemon and olives

1 hour

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.

Mini cottage cheese-and-egg muffins

Cardamom pavlova and whipped rose cream

Sticky tofu-and-black rice bowl with quick-pickled cabbage

Rose-water-and-pistachio biscuits with buffalo mozzarella, nectarines and basil

Salad Nicoise with fresh tuna

Butternut and goat’s-milk cheese risotto

Salmon, lamb crackling and puffed wild rice

Meats, black label jelly and truffle oil

Cantonese-style fish

Spicy prawn and cheese wraps

Roasted sweet-potato shavings with chicken and anchovies

Egyptian koushari

Algerian veal stew with spinach and chickpeas

Moroccan chicken tagine with preserved lemon and olives