For the starter we have four components. Fresh beetroot which we shall roast, goat’s cheese which we shall marinate in thyme oil and then grill just before serving, pecans which we candy with a bit of icing sugar and dressed lettuce.
We normally use the standard red beetroot because it is almost always available and we can grow it easily but you could also use golden beetroot or the lovely candy stripped version. We will just roast them whole then peel and slice.
For the goat’s cheese we generally use the log format but you can also use the round version. Goat’s cheese is quite rich so one piece is enough. We can get eight portions out of this log which makes the dish very economical.
If you have vegetarians for guest then when you buy your goat’s cheese make sure that you check that the cheese does not contain animal rennet. Here in the UK it is easy because most of our cheese is made with fermented rennet but you do need to check the package.
To candy the pecans we just put them into boiling water for a moment, coat them in sugar and put them into the oven for three minutes.
For the lettuce, you can use whatever is readily available to you. It needs to be a soft lettuce so not iceberg for example. You can use rocket, which is arugula in the US, baby spinach leaves, lamb’s lettuce which is also called mache or even watercress leaves.
The salad leaves are dressed in a Dijon mustard vinegar oil dressing.
We can roast the beetroot, marinate the cheese, candy the pecans and prepare the dressing early in the day and then grill the cheese and dress the lettuce just before serving.
Dead easy to make and always a winner.
Equipment:
We have listed the equipment separately because you may choose to do the different tasks at different times or have different people do each task.
Roast beetroot:
- A tray which will hold the beetroot and go into the oven.
- A small knife to prepare and peel the beetroot.
- A bowl to hold the prepared beetroot.
Marinated goat’s cheese:
- A plate to hold the marinated cheese.
- A knife to cut the cheese – a serrated bread knife works well.
- A knife to chop the thyme.
- A baking tray to grill the cheese.
Candied pecans:
- A small bowl to hold the pecans when they are covered in boiling water
- A plate to hold the sugar to coat the pecans.
- A baking tray to roast the pecans.
- A bowl or plate to hold the roasted pecans.
Lettuce dressing:
- A bowl or jar to mix the ingredients.
- A whisk – or you can shakes them together in a jar with a lid.
- A small squeeze plastic bottle or spoon to put the dressing on the plates
- Measuring spoons (or a kitchen spoon) to measure the ingredients
Goat’s cheese and beetroot with candied pecans and dressed salad
8
servings30
minutes40
minutesKeep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
8 8 Medium-sized beetroot
150 gram 150 gram Goat's Cheese
16 16 Candied Pecans
8 8 handfuls of leaves
Equipment
Baking Sheet
Cooks Knife
Bowl
Chopping board
Baking Paper
Directions
- Beetroot Instructions
- Set the oven to 180°C (350°F) – fan oven
Wash the mud off the beetroot.
Trim off the root and the tops – cut off the tops around 2cm or an inch from the beetroot
- Put the beetroot into the roasting tray
Cover with olive oil – move the beetroot around with your hands to ensure they are all covered in oil
Put the tray and the beetroot into the oven to roast for 45 minutes.
Proceed with the next steps. - Goats Cheese Instructions
- Cut the fresh thyme very fine – if you can’t fine fresh thyme you can use dried
Mix the cut thyme with the olive oil
- Slice the goat’s cheese into portions – one 150g log is divided into eight portions (cut into half, then half and half again to produce eight pieces) – cut very slowly – you want to maintain the round shape and not crush the cheese into an oblong.
- Put the pieces of cheese onto a plate and coat with the thyme oil. Coat both sides,
Leave to marinate.
- Candied Pecans Instructions
- Set the oven to 180°C (350°F) – fan oven
- Count out 3 or 4 pecans per person (the same number of each person!)
Put the pecans into a bowl
Put the sugar onto a plate. - Boil a kettle of water
Cover the pecans with boiling water for three seconds and then immediately drain them
- Put the pecans onto a plate and coat with icing sugar – make sure they are all coated
- Put the sugar coated pecans onto a baking sheet/tray
Put the pecans into the oven to roast for four minutes
- Remove the pecans from the oven
Leave to cool
To prepare the lettuce dressing:- Measure out the ingredients – Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, olive oil – into a bowl or jar
- Mix together and set aside for later – (the vinegar and oil will separate so you will whisk or shake them together again before you dress the salad before you serve
Don’t dress the salad leaves until you are ready to serve because they will wilt.
- Beetroot Part 2:
- After 45 minutes, remove the tray and beetroot from the oven
Leave to cool - When the beetroot is cool – use a small knife to peel the skin from each beetroot
Cut each beetroot into quarters or if bigger into eights – this is the size you will serve on the plate
- Assembly (Five minutes before serving):
- Set the oven rack to its highest position – just under the grill (broiler or top heating element)
Set the grill (broiler) to high or around 200°C (400°F) - Put a few salad leaves around the edge of a small plate
- Add four pieces of beetroot to each plate
- Add 3 or four pecans to each plate
- Put the marinated cheese onto a baking sheet
- Put the cheese under the grill (broiler) for around one to two minutes – just until you see it becoming slightly soft and very slightly browning – but be careful! You do not want to melt the cheese. Go for slightly under done than over.
- Remove the cheese from the grill (broiler) and add to the centre (center!) of each plate
- Drip the dressing onto the salad leaves and dot around the plate
- Serve immediately
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