After visiting my local Farmers’ Market one September day, I dumped the contents of my canvas tote bags on my kitchen table and decided to see if I could make a soup from the vegetables. I thought that beets and pears would go well together, since both reach the peak of their season around the same time. Roasting the beets brings out their natural sweetness and earthy flavor. This lovely, lemon-colored soup can be served hot or cold, which perfectly suits the fickle New England weather in late September.

Ingredients:

Roasted Beets:-
3 bunches fresh yellow beets, washed and stems trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt, as needed
Soup:-
3 tablespoons salted butter
2 whole cloves garlic, peeled
1 large Spanish onion, peeled and diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
4 to 5 large ripe pears, peeled, seeded, and quartered
3 bunches roasted beets
8 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup vermouth
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 cup sour cream
1 cup light cream
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 to 2 thinly sliced pears, for garnish
3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese, for garnish

Directions:

For the roasted beets: Preheat the oven to 450°F. Place the beets on a large piece of foil. Rub the beets with the oil and sprinkle on all sides with salt. Loosely close the foil and place in a roasting pan. Bake for 1 hour, or until the beets can be easily pierced with a fork. Remove and let cool just until they can be handled. Peel and discard the skins. Set aside.

For the soup: In a stockpot melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onion, celery, carrot, and quartered pears. Sauté for 10 minutes. Add the roasted beets, chicken stock, and vermouth (the liquid should cover the beets). Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from the stove and puree the soup in the pot using a hand blender or working in batches with a regular blender until the ingredients are well mixed. Add the honey, vinegar, sour cream, light cream, salt, and pepper. Puree once again until smooth. Garnish each serving with pear slices and blue cheese.

Makes 8 to 10 servings. Except for a pick-your-own place, you will never find a fresher and more colorful assortment of vegetables, honey, eggs, and flowers than at a Farmers’ Market. At my local market near Boston, farmers drive in once a week to sell whatever they have harvested earlier that day. I try to rearrange my schedule just so that I never miss one of their visits. The array of fresh ingredients, some of which are still covered with dirt, can be an inspiration, and the quality tends to be infinitely better than plastic-wrapped produce from the supermarket.