Chilled Beetroot and Cucumber Soup, served with Pesto
Course: Soup
Cuisine: French
Prep Time: 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time: 0 minutesminutes
Servings: 4
You’ll see, it’s surprising how you can taste both flavors of beetroot and cucumber! The sweetness and smooth texture of this soup is balanced by a homemade baby spinach pesto. And the vibrant color! In French, we would say that this gazpacho is “a real sunshine ray in the plates” (un rayon de soleil dans l’assiette)!
280grcucumberabout 1 cucumber not too big, peeled weight, center removed
200gryoghurtsuch as Greek yoghurt or soy yoghurt
+/- 5clchicken brothsee above, ½ cube of Maggi chicken stock with 100 ml hot water
+/- 1tablespoonlemonjuice
salt
pepper
Pesto
2tablespoonspesto saucebasil pesto as pesto alla Genovese
60grspinachbaby spinach leaves about 2 large handles
2tablespoonsolive oil
1teaspoonlemonjuice or 2 according to your taste
Instructions
For the soup
Peel the pre-cooked beetroot and cut it coarsely. Peel and seed cucumber and cut it into large pieces.
Prepare chicken stock with only a little bit of water. Let it cool down.
Place beetroot, cucumber and yoghurt in your blender. Mix until smooth. Gradually add the lemon juice and the chicken stock to adjust the quantities according to your taste. Season with salt and pepper.
Rest in the refrigerator
For the pesto
Mix together the baby spinach leaves, basil pesto, olive oil and lemon juice.
Taste, adjust seasonning and conistancy (more olive oil if the texture is not liquid enough for example).
Notes
The main steps: For soup as for pesto, just prepare and combine ingredients. That's all.Serve in individual bowls with two tablespoons of pesto and a few chopped spinach leaves on the soup.And for a quick lunch, skip the pesto and just quickly prepare the soup.If needed, please refer to the conversion and measures article here