The Lazy Cook Show

Finnish Red Root Soup (Punajuurisosekeitto)

This is a hearty soup and a staple in Finland. You need to find a source for 'smetana', a kind of specialist Russian/Finnish dairy product; but I am sure the hunt will be worth the time.

I was going to sanitise and re-write this recipe in my own style, but as you will see, my Finnish friend 'Mai' and I agreed to paste it direct. Here goes:

 Friend: i can give you the recipe to that red root soup but you neeeed smetana with it
 Me: I will use extra thick soured cream
 Friend: like a table spoon of it on top of on serving. tho i always shove two :D
 Friend: NO SOUR CREAM!
 Friend: it has to be smetana
 Me: I will have to find a baltic grocer store then ;D
 Friend: yeah
 Friend: you put 1L of water to boil
 Me: Probably either the Latvian or Estonian version
 Friend: ad a vegetable stock cube or whatever the fuck you people call it
 Me: just that
 Friend: one red onion
 Friend: 500g beetroot
 Friend: 3-5 potatos
 Friend: 1-2 clove of garlic
 Friend: 2,5dl cream
 Friend: thyme (optional)
 Friend: pepper and salt
 Friend: i don't usually put thyme in it but i thought to give it a go and it works just fine and changes the taste a lot
 Me: I would try both, but I fancy it more without thyme
 Friend: boil the veggies and at garlic and spices and the cream and use the uh..well some sort of blender or smasher to make it into that soup stuff
 Me: Hand blender
 Friend: and then get some rye bread and fry it with butter, garlic and parsley
 Friend: and eat it with the soup
 Friend: and shove shitload of smetana on your plate cos it's awesome
 Me: hahahahaha
 Friend: i should make recipes online my way of writing it isn't that typical :D
 Friend: you can aslo just make a straight copy of the text and say "this is the recipe i got from my friend unchanged. that's her way of giving out recipes."
 Me: I think you could start a recipe blog like mine
 Friend: i'm too lazy
 Friend: easier to just give you the recipes
 Friend: i generally can't cook worth shit
 Me: Do I have your permission to paste?
 Friend: go ahead

Enjoy!