Seasonal local food recipe No.371 – Nigel’s baked beetroot with seeded ricotta

If we hadn’t already used our beetroot I’d be tempted by this recipe featured in today’s Observer magazine.

Serves 4 as a side dish

Preparation time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients
4 medium-sized beetroot
12 sprigs thyme
4 sprigs rosemary
4 bay leaves
3 tbsp olive oil
200g ricotta cheese
1 small orange
1 tbsp hemp seeds
2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
3 tbsp parsley, chopped

Method
Bring a large, deep saucepan of water to the boil and salt it generously.  Scrub and trim the beetroots, taking care not to pierce the skin. Boil them whole and unpeeled for 40-45 minutes until they are fully tender.  You should be able to pierce them effortlessly with a skewer.

Heat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6.  Put the ricotta in a mixing bowl.  Finely grate the zest ot the orange and add to the ricotta with the hemp and pumpkin seeds and the chopped parsley.  Season with a little salt and a few twists of black pepper.

Place a large piece of kitchen foil in a roasting tin.  When the beetroots are tender, remove them from the water, peel off the skins – they should come away easily – then place the beetroots on the foil. Put the sprigs of thyme and rosemary and the bay in a mixing bowl.  Add a little salt and black pepper, then pour in the olive oil.  Toss the seasonings and oil together then spoon over the beetroots.

Loosely scrunch the edges of the foil together to make a parcel around the beetroots, then bake for about 45 minutes. Remove the roasting tin from the oven, unwrap the foil, then put the beetroots on a serving plate.  Slice them open and place generous spoonfuls of the seeded ricotta mixture on each one.

Seasonal local food recipe No.338 – South Indian beetroot thoran

We had this dish for our tea last night, served with chapatis – delicious.  The recipe is from The Telegraph Food and Drink pages. Asparagus, peas, white cabbage or carrot also work well instead of beetroot.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 5-10 minutes

Ingredients
250 g fresh beetroot, with the leaves if possible, washed
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
2 sprigs fresh curry leaves
1 fresh green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 coconut, smashed flesh peeled and grated
1 lemon

Method
Peel and coarsely grate the beetroot and finely slice the leaves, then mix them together.  Heat a large frying pan over a high heat.  Add the oil and then the mustard leaves.  When the mustard seeds begin to crackle, add the curry leaves and the green chilli, then the red onion, grated beetroot and leaves.

Season with salt and continue to stir-fry for about five minutes.  Finish with the grated coconut and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Seasonal local food recipe No.316 – Beetroot and chocolate traybake

This recipe was a technical challenge in The Great Sport Relief Bake Off.  I’m going to make it tonight as a pudding for my Mum on Mothers’ Day.  I may skip the candied beetroot hearts!

Makes 12 slices

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 40-50 minutes

Ingredients
For the cake:
250 g self raising flour
4 Tbsp cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
250 g cooked beetroot in natural juices
3 Tbsp white wine vinegar
160 ml buttermilk
160 g butter, softened
230 g caster sugar
3 large free-range eggs
For the icing:
280 g cream cheese
50 g unsalted butter, softened
50 g icing sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
For the candied beetroot hearts:
2 raw beetroots
200 g caster sugar

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Grease and line a 30x20cm/12x8in traybake tin.

Mix together the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder in a bowl.  Blend the beetroot in a food processor until you have a rough purée. Put the purée in a bowl, add the vinegar and buttermilk. Mix to combine.

Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, followed by half the dry mixture and half the beetroot mixture.  Continue to mix gently, adding the rest of the dry ingredients and the remaining beetroot.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 40-50 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning it out of the tin and leaving it to cool completely.  Meanwhile make the icing. Beat together the cream cheese and butter until soft. Beat in the icing sugar and vanilla extract until they are combined, then spread the icing onto the cooled cake.

For the beetroot hearts, thinly slice the beetroot, and cut into 12 heart shapes.  Boil the sugar in 200ml/7fl oz water until the sugar has dissolved, then add the beetroot hearts and simmer for about 10 minutes until soft and translucent. Using a fork, carefully remove the beetroot hearts from the hot sugar syrup and carefully lay them on paper towel to soak up any excess syrup.  Slice the cake into 12 even squares, and then decorate each square with a beetroot heart.

It’s time to… sow seeds and prepare growing beds

Mark N is ploughing, weeding, composting and raking the veg beds set aside for root veg – carrots, beetroot, fennel and parsnips.

In the meantime young plants in the seeding tunnel are growing well in the warm conditions and strong spring light.

Seasonal local food recipe No.266 – Hugh’s Beetroot and raisin tea loaf

This recipe is from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstalls book Veg every day.  The original recipe was for a pumkin and raisin loaf but he suggested using beetroot instead – I’m not sure about the colour!  The loaf itself is rich and sweet but also light as it doesn’t contain any butter or oil.

Preparation time: 30 mins
Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients
200g light muscovado sugar
4 large eggs, separated
200g finely grated beetroot
finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
100g raisins
100g ground almonds
200g self-raising flour
a pinch of fine sea salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
A generous grating of nutmeg

Method
Preheat the oven to 170°C/Gas mark 3.  Lightly grease a loaf tin, about 20 x 10 cm, and line with baking parchment.  Using an electric whisk, beat the sugar and egg yolks together for 2-3 minutes until pale and creamy.  Lightly stir in the grated beetroot, lemon zest and juice, raisins and ground almonds.  Sift the flour, salt and spices together over the mixture and then fold them in, using a metal spoon.  In a large clean bowl, beat the egg whites until they hold soft peaks.  Stir in a heaped tablespoon of the egg white into the cake mixture to loosen it a little, then fold in the rest as lightly as you can.  Tip the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and gently level the surface.  Bake for about one hour, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.  Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Plenty of spring veg in our boxes this week

Spring has almost sprung and we’ve got plenty of greens in the vegetable boxes.

 In all the boxes this week: –
*salad bag (mixed lettuce, mibuna, mizuna, red/golden mustard, baby beet/spinach, namenia, rocket)
*spring onions
*leeklets
curly kale (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
purple sprouting broccoli  (Restharrow)
beetroot (Restharrow)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have: –
extra potatoes
*Swiss chard
*coriander
Jerusalem artichokes (Restharrow)

* = grown organic principles
All produce grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated

Please ensure you wash all vegetables carefully

This week we recommend these recipes from our own website recipe collection:-
Beetroot seed cake     Chocolate beetroot cake

Beetroot and spring onions in our veg boxes

All boxes have:
*beetroot (see recipe ideas below)

*spring onions

*kale
*leeks
*chillies
*parsnips (Mark Norman, Bodmin)

potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:

Extra potatoes
*salad bag (rocket, mixed lettuce, golden mustard)
*carrots
*cauliflower (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)

All veg grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated
* = grown to organic principles

Try these beetroot recipes from our website archive:
Crunchy raw beetroot salad with feta and pear
Chocolate beetroot cake

Basil, beetroot and peppers in our boxes this week

All boxes have basil, beetroot, peppers and aubergines this week.

Small boxes have:-
*Tomatoes
*Beetroot
*Peppers
*Aubergines
*Kale
*Basil
*Onions
Potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:-
Extra potatoes
*French beans
*Salad leaves
*Courgettes (Mark Norman, Bodmin)

All veg grown by Camel CSA, unless otherwise indicated
* = grown to organic principles

Fresh new beetroot in our vegetable boxes

This week all boxes have: –
* beetroot (Camel CSA)
* tomatoes (Camel CSA)
* cucumbers (Camel CSA)
* parsley (Camel CSA)
* courgettes (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
* broad beans (Camel CSA/Mark Norman)
* potatoes (Mark Norman)

Standard boxes also have:
* extra potatoes
* aubergines (Camel CSA)
* chard (Camel CSA)
* French beans (Camel CSA/Mark Norman)

* = grown to organic principles

Seasonal local food recipe No.213 – Jamie’s crunchy raw beetroot salad with feta and pear

It has to be said I’m not a great fan of beetroot but this recipe has become a staple in our household.  It is from Jamie Oliver’s book Cook with Jamie.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 15-20 minutes
No cooking!

Ingredients
4 beetroots, peeled and cut into fine matchsticks
3 ripe pears, peeled, cored and cut into matchsticks
lemon oil dressing – the juice of half a lemon mixed with 5 tbs olive oil, seasoned and well shaken
salt and pepper
200g feta cheese
a small bunch of fresh mint, smallest leaves picked
optional: a large handful of sunflower seeds

Method
Dress the beetroot and pear matchsticks in a little of the lemon oil dressing and season with some salt and pepper.  Taste to check the flavours are balanced and lovely, and add a little more lemon juice to check the sweetness of the pears and beetroots if you need to.

Divide the salad between four plates or put it on a big platter, crumble over the creamy white feta, and sprinkle with the baby mint leaves and the sunflower seeds if using them.