Tuesday, September 10, 2013

How to Make Beetroot Pesto

Beetroot 1

Beetroot is one of our favourite vegetables and roasted with a bit of olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, and fresh thyme is hands down my favourite way to eat it.  Once so roasted, it finds its way into all kinds of delicious salads, such as this Salad of Roasted Beetroot, Pink Grapefruit & Pumpkin, or this Ruby Salad, or this Salad of Asparagus with Artichokes, Arugula, Pomegranate & Beetroot.

Roasted Beetroot, Pink Grapefruit & Pumpkin Salad 2

Roasted beetroot also often finds its way into a warm salad with lentils and walnuts, with a red wine vinaigrette dressing - a great accompaniment to good sausages.  But one of our favourites is my recreation of a salad we often used to enjoy when we lived in Christchurch at a cafe called Holy Smoke.  I never seem to get around to photographing this salad when I make it, so I don't have a picture to show you, but it's pretty simple and is best composed as individual servings - strategically place a few dollops of beetroot pesto and a few dollops of ricotta around each plate;  artistically arrange florets of steamed broccoli, wedges of roasted beetroot, wedges of sweet potato and shards of crispy bacon atop and around the pesto and ricotta;  drizzle over a simple vinaigrette sweetened with honey, and sprinkle over some pine nuts toasted in butter.   So good!

To make up for the fact that I don't have a photo of this salad to show you, I am going to share my recipe for beetroot pesto.  Not only is it great in this salad, its also a wonderful spread to add to an antipasto platter, and the best part of all is that you can pretty much make it all year round.

Beetroot Pesto

Beetroot Pesto Recipe
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

Note - quantities given here are approximate - you can adjust everything to suit your taste

4x medium sized beetroot
6x cloves garlic, unpeeled
generous handful walnuts, roasted
1 cup Pecorino cheese, freshly grated
(substitute with Parmesan if Pecorino is not available)
flaky sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (390 degrees F).

Wash beetroot, top and tail them, and cut into eighths.  Place a sheet of tinfoil on a baking sheet, and place the beetroot in a single layer on the foil.  Scatter over the whole garlic cloves, season generously with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and drizzle with olive oil.  Close up foil around the beetroot to make a package, and place it on the baking sheet into the preheated oven.  Cook until the beetroot is tender - will take around 50 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow beetroot and garlic to cool to room temperature.

Squeeze cooled garlic cloves out of their skins, and put the garlic and beetroot into the bowl of your food processor.  Add toasted walnuts and Pecorino cheese, and blitz up until a rough paste begins to form.  Now, with the motor running, pour olive oil through the tube until you reach a fairly smooth, spreadable consistency.  Give it a taste and then add salt and pepper to your liking, also adding more cheese or oil according to your taste.

Enjoy!

I'll be sharing this post at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely, and very amusing, Michelle at Ms. enPlace, at Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads, at Foodie Friday hosted by Designs by Gollam, at Hearth & Soul Blog Hop hosted by April at 21st Century Housewife, at My Meatless Mondays hosted by Chaya at My Sweet and Savory and at Food on Friday:Beetroot hosted by Carole at Carole's Chatter.


See Ya in The Gumbo Badge      Weekend Cooking Badge          hearthnsoul150    MyMeatlessMondays

24 comments:

  1. what a great idea and would be slightly sweet lovely

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    1. Thanks, Rebecca. It's actually quite surprising how much natural sweetness beetroot have, but the cheese and nuts balance that out well.

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  2. I've just put a batch of gravlax in the fridge, I want to serve it with some sort of beetroot. I've just found some golden beetroot so this pesto will be perfect.

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    1. David, I've often served this with gravlax on little buckwheat blini - makes a lovely appetiser or pass around for a party.

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  3. I am a more recent convert to beets. I used not to like them at all until I started roasting them. Now I enjoy them--roasted or not. A friend of mine makes a yummy beet hummus that this pesto reminds me of. I bet this would make a delicious sandwich spread for a veggie wrap too. ;-)

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    1. Funny that, isn't it, Deb - I've often found that people who claim not to like beetroot have enjoyed them when roasted. You're right - I think this would make a great spread for a veggie wrap - must explore that idea.

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  4. I love roasted beets but never thought of making pesto with them. What an awesome idea. I'm definitely trying this.

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  5. If only I could get my family to eat beets. This looks lovely! I wanted you to know that one of your posts inspired my Weekend Cooking post, so thanks!

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    1. Col, maybe you can get them to eat beets by trying them on roasted ones - they seem to appeal even to a lot of people who think they don't like them.

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  6. Red beets are not my favorite thing in the world, but I wouldn't mind trying this with golden beets. There's something about the color that tricks my brain, even if they are basically the same thing.

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    1. Cecelia, I'm sure this would work with golden beets - nothing at all wrong with tricking your brain.

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  7. When we were in Australia, a friend made a beet dip for us and it was so good. Your beautiful pesto is reminding me of it and I really need to make this soon. Big beet fans here!

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    1. Thanks, Hannah - I hope you enjoy it and it lives up to previous experiences :-)

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  8. I'm with Deb. Beets were not my thing until I tried them roasted. This is a fun idea. And the color is fantastic! Thanks for linking up! Hope you are having a nice week.

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    1. Thanks, Michelle - pleased those roasted beets won you over :-)

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  9. Thanks for the recipe Sue. I made a small batch with the last of our beetroots. I didn't roast the beets, simply peeled, cut up and microwaved them for about 25 minutes (in bursts of about eight minutes). I also used raw garlic but otherwise followed your recipe. I think pesto is like alchemy, once you've made any type from a recipe it's easy to wing it as long as the cheese, nuts, garlic and olive oil are included. My version was really delicious and pretty on crackers, I'm sure the roasted version would be even better.

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    1. Thanks, Clare. Pleased you were inspired to use some of your beetroot in this way. Your version sounds great, and you are absolutely right - once you have the basic formula for pesto, you can switch ingredients around to make all kinds of wonderful flavour combos.

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  10. I would never have thought of making pesto out of beetroot! What an inspired idea! I often eat beetroot roasted, and am always looking for new ways to prepare it. This is such a wonderful recipe, I'd love it if you'd share it with the Hearth and Soul hop if you have time!

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    1. Thanks, April - this is a great way of using up beetroot when they're abundant - and makes a delightfully unexpected addition to an antipasto platter.

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  11. I love beets and will be trying this pesto for sure!

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    1. That's great, Mireille - I hope you enjoy it. I'd love to know what you think.

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