Roast beetroot soup with beet top pesto

Method

1. To make the pesto, blitz all of the ingredients together in a food processor until you have a smooth paste, adding enough rapeseed oil to loosen it into the right consistency. Transfer to a sterilised jar and place in the fridge.

2. Preheat the oven to 200°C.

3. Place your beetroots in a roasting tin along with the garlic cloves (unpeeled) and sprigs of thyme. Generously drizzle over some rapeseed oil until everything is well covered and season with sea salt and black pepper. Pour in a little water, enough to reach the first knuckle of your little finger. Roast in the oven for around 40 minutes, covering with foil halfway through the cooking. A knife should easily slide through the beetroot when cooked.

4. Take out of the oven and leave to cool, just enough to handle. Slip the beetroot out of their skins with your fingers and top and tail them with a sharp knife and roughly chop them up.

5. Place in a large saucepan. Squeeze the soft garlic flesh out of their skins into the saucepan along with the beetroots. Strain the liquor from the roasting tray through a sieve into the pot as well.

6. Heat your stock up in a separate pan. Pour in half of the stock on top of the beetroot and then blitz everything with a good stick blender. Add more stock until you get the right consistency. You may need need to use all of the stock. Check the soup for seasoning and then serve in bowls with a dollop of crème fraiche and the pesto drizzled generously over.