salads and sides:

beetroot carpaccio

Published 10th December 2017

Traditionally, the word carpaccio belongs to raw beef or fish, but for this side dish of thinly sliced beetroot there is no more appropriate term than carpaccio, so beetroot carpaccio it is!

When we were in Mexico on our honeymoon, we stayed in this lovely B&B in a small coastal town on the Baja Peninsula called Todos Santos (highly recommend going there if you’re in Mexico). Our ‘hosts’ at the B&B were such amazing people. They made an appetiser very similar to this to go with our beers when we first arrived – so fresh and tasty. Since I can’t remember exactly what was in the original dish, I have created my own version.

 
 
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Beetroot is one of those vegetables that grows a lot of the year round and adds great colour and flavour to whatever it is added to. Beetroot is also a good source of fibre and vitamin C. This dish is great as a starter or as a salad/side dish for a main meal. It is also very easy and the beetroots can be boiled a day or two in advanced and kept in the fridge.

Ordinarily, I would use purple beetroot as the colour contrast is better, but on this occasion, we only had the golden beetroot. You can also use a combination of the two.

You can use any sort of goat’s cheese or feta that you wish, but I love love love Meredith Goats Feta, and the oil is very handy to use as a dressing. Similarly, with the gherkins, they can be any gherkins, but the ‘juice’ in sweet, spiced gherkins also makes a great addition to the dressing. If you are using a non-sweetened gherkin, you will need to add 1/2 a teaspoon of sugar to the dressing.

This was the first time that I made this for the kids, and they loved it. Mark asked for second and third helpings and Claire happily polished off her portion. We had it with crispy skinned salmon, greens and roast potatoes.

Enjoy xx.

 
 
 
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Ingredients:

Serves 2-3 as a side

  • 2 medium beetroots

  • 1 spring onion, finely chopped

  • 1 small gherkin, finely diced

  • 2 tsp Meredith Dairy goats feta

  • 1/4 small red onion, finely diced (optional)

  • 1 radish, thinly sliced

  • 1 tbs nuts, toasted – walnuts or pine nuts work best

Dressing

  • 1 tbs oil from the goats feta

  • 2 tsp white wine vinegar

  • 1 tbs ‘juice’ from the gherkins

  • Salt and pepper

 

Method:

  1. To cook the beetroot, place beetroot into a medium sized pot of water and bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and allow to cook for ~40 minutes or until tender.

  2. Once cooked, drain the water and run beetroot under cold water until cool enough to handle. Rub off the skin under the cold water and place into the fridge to cool.

  3. Once beetroot has cooled, shave the beetroot finely using a vegetable peeler. You can also use a knife, but you won’t get it as thin. Arrange onto serving plate.

  4. To make the dressing, place all ingredients into a small bowl and mix well to combine. Set aside.

  5. To toast the nuts, heat a small frypan over medium heat, add the nuts and toast until light browned.

  6. Sprinkle the spring onions, red onion, diced gherkin over the beetroot. Crumble the feta over the top, followed by the radish and then pour the dressing evenly over the top. Finish off with the toasted nuts.

  7. Either leave for flavours to marinate in the fridge for up to half an hour or serve immediately.