Beet Tartare
We came up with this dish as a vegetarian alternative to our chopped raw beef dish. The intention was not to try and make a meat substitute, but rather to have a vegetarian dish that would be delicious and could be eaten in the same manner as the beef. We absolutely loved the end result - Juliette thinks it rivals the meaty option!
Ingredients - enough for 20 when served as a snack, 8-12 as a small dish
4 large red or chioggia beetroots (choggias end up looking a lot like tuna tartare, which is very beautiful)
Smoked rapeseed oil
An aged, dark vinegar (cider, sherry, red wine &c.)
Grated zest and juice from 1 lemon
A little hard sheeps or goats cheese (we use Engish pecorino)
Maldon salt
To serve, as needed:
Fresh mayonnaise
Very finely chopped parsley salad
Good sourdough toast
Good, plain salted thick potato crisps
Rye sourdough discard crackers
Some gorgeous and vibrant beets before they become the gorgeous and vibrant beet tartare!
You need a good bed of coals from of a woodfire that is just past its hottest to cook the beetroots, so light a big fire, use it to cook a delicious pork chop - and then you can begin.
Once you’ve got a nice bed of moderately hot coals, preheat the oven to 180°C. Rake the coals and nestle the beetroots in amongst them. Char the beets all over - they have a tendency to extinguish the coals on which they sit, so you’ll need to move them around a bit and rake the coals throughout. It should take about 30 minutes for the ‘troots to be fully charred, once they are, transfer them to a tray and bake in the oven until tender (test by stabbing with a thin skewer or paring knife).
Remove the beets from the oven and let them cool fully. Peel off only the very outer skin - it should separate naturally from the flesh. Some char may have penetrated beneath the skin so there may be a few black spots, which you shouldn’t worry about removing as their smokiness will only improve the taste of the final mixture.
Remove the beets from the fridge and cut into a uniform ¼” dice. Transfer to a container, dress with the oil, vinegar and a little salt. Be conservative when adding salt: more salt and salty things are added later. Cover and marinate in the fridge overnight.
Drain and reserve the excess marinade from the tartare. Season the beets with a little microplaned pecorino. The tartare should not taste cheesy, but it is supposed to have a predominantly savoury flavour profile. A little cheese goes a long way in balancing out the natural sweetness of the beetroots. Sometimes we swap the grated cheese for goats whey garum or collatura di alici. Season the beets with with lemon zest and juice, salt, pepper and/or oil.
The mixture should be glossy but not wet - add in some of the reserved marinade if needed.
Let the tartare come up to room temperature before serving. Mix in Maldon salt right before eating to ensure the crystals retain their crunch. Eat the beets piled high on toast, crackers or crisps with bright yellow mayonnaise and parsley salad. For a recent autumn menu, we served these delicious ‘roots with our Cornish mackerel, charred lemon, and a sprinkle of beetroot powder.
Perfection.
