Heritage Beetroot Salad

Heritage Beetroot Salad

• Total Time: 90 minutes
• Cook Time: 90 minutes
• Serves: 4

Ingredients:

For the roasted beetroot:

• 1kg red beetroot, of similar sizes
• 1kg golden beetroot, of similar sizes
• 300ml good quality maple syrup
• 200ml water
• olive oil
• aged balsamic vinegar
• salt
• cracked black pepper
• goat's cheese, cut into bite-sized chunks

For the beetroot dressing:

• 200g beetroot
• 30ml aged balsamic vinegar
• 10ml red wine vinegar

For the honeycomb:

• 200g caster sugar
• 5tbsp golden syrup
• 2tsp bicarbonate soda
• greased tray (butter or oil spray)

Method:

To roast the beetroots:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C.
• Wash the beetroot in cold water and place them whole on a roasting tray. Season with salt, pepper and olive oil.
• Separate the colours in individual trays to prevent the golden pieces from colouring.
• Add water to each of the trays, just 1cm from the bottom of the tray. This will allow the beetroots to steam nicely and prevent them from sticking.
• Use aluminium foil to cover the trays and make sure its airtight.
• In the 180°C oven, cook the beetroot for 60-90 minutes, depending on the size.
• The beets are ready when a toothpick comes out of a small beetroot easily.
• Remove from the oven and allow the beets to cool.
• With the help of a napkin, rub the beetroot pieces so that the skin comes off.  Use gloves to avoid staining your fingers. Set one red beetroot aside for dressing.
• Cut the remaining beetroot into bite-size pieces and put them back into the trays.
• Drizzle with maple syrup and balsamic vinegar.
• Put them back in the oven for 5 minutes.
• Take the trays out and toss the beets around so they soak up the juices. Leave to cool down in room temperature.

To prepare the dressing:

• While still warm, blend the red beetroot that was set aside earlier with the vinegar until smooth, and refrigerate.

For the honeycomb:

• Boil the sugar and golden syrup in a heavy-based pan.
• When it starts turning into a golden brown colour, add bicarbonate of soda. The sugar mixture will start quickly rising, so be careful.
• Stir it once, making sure you stir the bottom of the pan.
• Pour the mixture into the pre-prepared tray.
• Wait for it to cool down to room temperature, until it turns hard.
• Break it up into desired pieces.

Place the beetroot in a shallow serving bowl and drizzle the dressing over it. Top with chunks of goat's cheese and honeycomb and serve.