Beetroot soup with herb dumplings

Herb dumplings

• 10 - 15 g fresh mixed herbs (e.g. basil, flat-leaf parsley, coriander, sage, chervil), leaves only
• 200 g full cream milk
• 60 g unsalted butter cut into pieces
• ¾ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg (optional)
• 150 g coarse semolina
• unsalted butter plus extra for greasing
• 1 egg

Beetroot soup

• 500 g raw beetroot peeled, cut into pieces
  or 500 g canned beetroot cut into pieces
• 700 g water
• 150 g white wine
• 2 heaped tsp Vegetable stock paste (refer to the recipe in The Basic Cookbook)
• 25 g plain flour
• ½ - 1 tsp salt
• 2 pinches ground nutmeg
• 1 pinch ground black pepper
• 100 g pouring (whipping) cream
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar (optional)