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.
