Now I love beetroot in any shape or form but I have to say this is the best method of cooking in order to intensify the flavour. My late wife Marion introduced me to this recipe and I adapted it a little, omitting the addition of olive oil. The one thing that guarantees the flavour of the beetroot being undiluted in any way is the period prior to cooking when the salt leaches out some of the juices. The beetroot then cooks in these juices becoming tender and wonderful.
For this recipe you will need:
500g of beetroot, (peeled weight)
1 teaspoon of salt
2 cloves of garlic, minced.
Begin by peeling the beetroot, an odd thing but trust me, it has to be done. Then with deep purple fingers, cut them up into roughly 1 centimeter dice. Place in a bowl and add the salt and the garlic, leave for an hour before placing in an ovenproof dish, cover tightly with kitchen foil and bake in a moderate, 180C oven for 45 minutes at which point the dark purple dice should yield to a sharp knife, if you decide they are not tender enough, place back in the oven for a further 10 minutes or so. Leave to cool completely before serving as an accompanying vegetable or placing in a container and storing for up to a week.
Beetroot is one of those love or hate vegetables isn't it? I love it, and I love its leaves as well :). Cheers for sharing your wife's recipe for turning beetroot into glorious savoury cubes. It has a habit of being a bit too sweet when plain and this method would deliver that lovely savoury edge needed :)
ReplyDeleteHow good to hear from you, it is a shame, beetroot has a bad press in this country, I think school dinners have been responsible over the years for putting a lot of people off this worthy vegetable. Baking vegetables in a salt crust has become very fashionable, but this method of cooking produces the same flavour intensity with far less effort at a fraction of the cost. It's always possible once the cooking is complete to add a little balsamic vinegar, if added acidity is what you enjoy, I often do. Best wishes, Tôbi.
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