Beetroot and Goat's Cheese Tart

Inspired by Hugh's Saturday column - I made this delicous beetroot and goat's cheese tart. Obviously I tweaked it a little to suit what I had (no wine or thyme unfortunately) but the essential idea was the same and boy, is it a good one. Buttery pastry, sweet roasted beetroot and sharp goats cheese - a trio made in heaven. All you need is a simple salad on the side or even better a potato salad slick with mayonnaise.

This is definitely a good way to eat beetroot as although I love it, I know it's not always the easiest thing to cook with, least of because of the stained fingers. This soup is another favourite, as is eating it raw in salads - it has a carrot-like sweetness and is wonderful in a grated carrot, apple and beetroot salad sprinkled with pine nuts.

This recipe makes enough to fill a standard 24cm tart tin. Hugh suggests using a loose-bottomed 20cm sandwcih tin for a deeper tart. As you can see, I used my new favourite rectangular tin and so made less of the filling.

Ingredients
1 tart case, baked blind
25g unsalted butter
3 red onions, halved and finely sliced
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
500g small beetroot, boiled, peeled and sliced.
1 small bunch spring onions, finely sliced
280g goat's cheese log

• Preheat the oven to 200C.
• Melt the butter in a pan and gently fry the onions until soft.
• Add the beetroot slices, balsamic vinegar and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until almost all the liquid is absorbed and the mix is glossy.
• Cut the cheese into 1cm slices and lay a few on the base of the tart.
• Tip in the beetroot mix and put the rest of the cheese on top. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and golden.
• Sprinkle the spring onions on top to serve.

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Friday Night Mezze

My friends came over on Friday night for the usual dinner, drinks, shisha and terrible dancing. What with the weather and our dancing plans, I decided to go for a mezze affair taking inspiration from a tapas special in a really old copy of Observer Food Monthly written by Moro. A few colourful dishes that weren't too heavy eaten along with a simple salad and toasted pittas, the kind of food that can be eaten warm, lazily, over easy conversation with a glass of elderflower and fizz.
Top of the list was hummus with crispy lamb - an old favourite, this is so tasty and so easy. You can definitely get away with a decent shop bought hummus. Spread messily over a large plate, top with lamb mince fried with onions and little cinnamon, pine nuts and parsely. Then this delicious beetroot and pistachio salad - raw beetroot sliced paper thin topped with a jade green pistachio sauce flecked with parsley, mint and lemon zest. The nuts and lemon zest go perfectly with the sweet beetroot.

Finally I made chicken legs marinated in garlic, tahini and cumin, roasted until golden and crispy served with a tahini sauce.

All recipes here.
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Chickpea Fritters

This is part of my resolution to actually cook something from the various food magazines I buy every month. These little chickpea fritters are from Olive. I made them as a starter when some friends came over, but they are pretty filling so would make a good lunch. I layered them with chargrilled aubergine and mozzarella and a tomato and coriander salsa. A deviation from the actual recipe which suggests using beetroot instead of aubergine, I've earmarked this for next time.


Whilst they were definitely delicious, flavoured with tahini, coriander and garlic, they are a little time consuming to make - separating eggs, whisking egg whites and the like. Don't let it put you off, just be prepared to spend a decent 30mins on it. The good news is leftovers keep pretty well, I actually made mine in the morning and warmed them through in the oven.

Ingredients

makes 8-10 small fritters

1 can chickpeas, drained
150ml milk
2 eggs, separated
1tsp baking powder
100g plain flour
1 small bunch coriander, chopped (reserves some for garnish)
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 chilli, finely chopped
2tsp tahini
lemon, a good squeeze
1 aubergine, sliced
1 mozzarella ball, sliced
Tomato Salsa
250g cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
small bunch coriander, chopped
2tbsp olive oil
1tbsp lemon juice

• To make the tomato salsa, mix all the ingredients and season well.
• Drizzle the aubergine slices in a little sunflower oil and rub in.
• Heat a large griddle pan and fry the aubergines for a few minutes on each side until soft.
• Remove from the pan, season well and squeeze over a little lemon juice.
  
• Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl,whisk the egg yolks and milk into a smooth paste.
• Sift in the flour and baking powder and whisk in well.
• Add the coriander, garlic, tahini, chilli and lemon juice and stir well.
• Now stir in the chickpeas.
• Whisk the egg whites into stiff peaks, fold gently into the chickpea mixture.
• Heat a large frying pan and add a little oil. Spoon in about 1tbsp of mixture at a time into the pan and cook for 2-3mins on each side. you should get 8-10 fritters
  
• Drain on kitchen paper once cooked.
• To assemble, layer a fritter, a slice of aubergine and a slice of mozzarella and spoon over a little tomato salsa.

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Beetroot Soup

Mmm yet another delicious use for beetroot and possibly one of my favourites. The lime juice and vodka are a must (a traditional addition to Russian Borscht), they cut through the sweet earthiness of the beetroot, spring onion adds some texture and yoghurt is just nice in most things. Plus, how amazing is the colour?

As usual with beetroot, wash all utensils as soon as possible to prevent staining. I've given all the vegetables in whole amounts as no one wants to be weighing them out, use whatever you have and adjust the amount of water you add accordingly.

Beetroot Soup

Ingredients

1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 medium carrots, diced
4 medium sized beetroots
¼ chilli, chopped
2 tsp bouillon powder (or a vegetable stock cube, crumbled)
1 lime
100ml vodka
To serve:
plenty of yoghurt
1 bunch spring onions, finely chopped

Trim the beetroots, place in a pan, cover and simmer for about 45mins or until the beets are tender. Drain and reserve the cooking water. When the beets are cool, slip off the skin and dice. Fry the onion and carrot in a little oil for 5mins, add the garlic and chilli and fry for 2mins more. Add the beetroot and crumbled stock cube, stir thoroughly. Now add the reserve water from the beetroot, enough to just cover the vegetables. Bring to a boil and gently simmer for 10mins. Blend the soup, be careful not to splash the soup everywhere! Add more water if necessary depending on how chunky you like it and check for seasoning. When you're ready to serve, heat the soup and add the juice of the lime and the vodka. Serve with a judicious blob of yoghurt and a sprinkling of spring onions (and maybe a bib...) Read more...

Mackerel and Beetroot Salad

Faced with the mountain of beetroot building up I made this salad. I love beetroot, it goes really well with sharp salty cheeses like feta or goats cheese, but the sweet, earthy beetroot goes surprisingly well with the oily mackerel. I was lucky in that I had all the lovely organic vegetables from my veg box, having said that this would still be pretty tasty with the pre-cooked beetroot you can get.

When handling beetroot, the thing to remember is to wash your hands and any utensils straight away otherwise they will stain.

Mackerel and Beetroot Salad

4 fillets mackerel
1tsp dried or fresh thyme
½ lemon
125g cherry tomatoes, quartered
2 handfuls spinach, sliced
2 medium sized beetroot
1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Boil the whole beetroot for 40-45mins until soft. Drain, allow to cool and cut into thin wedges. Season and drizzle with some olive oil and lemon juice. Drizzle the mackerel fillets with olive oil, season well and sprinkle over the dried thyme. Get a frying pan really hot, fry the mackerel for a couple of mins on each side, when cooked, remove and squeeze over some lemon juice. To assemble the salad, mix the vegetables and place the fish on top.

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Beetroot Cake

Don't be put off by the title, think carrot cake...

I've started getting an Abel and Cole veg box, which I really love. They also do lots of other products, so I've been getting eggs delivered every week and I've just ordered some mackerel caught off the coast of Cornwall, that's some sustainable fish. As lovely as it is having all these vegetables at my disposal, I am only one person and there was a lot of veg, I got through most of it, but was left with some sad looking beetroots at the bottom of the fridge. Now, I love beetroot and it can be used in all manner of ways, (I'm thinking beetroot and mackerel salad next week) but this cake recipe caught my eye and I do always like to have cake around. I added some oats to this too, so it is positively healthy eating.

Ingredients

200g raw beetroot, peeled and grated (about 2-3 medium beetroot)
100g sultanas, soaked in boiling water and drained
150g sugar
3 eggs
150ml sunflower oil
1tbsp baking powder
150g plain flour
100g porridge oats
2tsp cinnamon

Whisk the eggs, oil and sugar together. Then fold in the flour, oats, baking powder and cinnamon. Finally, fold in the beetroot and sultanas, Mix thoroughly and pour into a greased and lined cake tin. Bake for about an hour at 180°C. This worked well in a 20cm round cake tin, but I think would also make a nice loaf cake. Next time I think I will also try icing it with some sort of cream cheese icing. Read more...