Carpaccio of roast beetroot with whipped goats cheese and honey comb.
Ingredients:
Serves 6
4 medium beetroot, washed and trimmed but not peeled
I tbsp of olive oil
Sprigs of Thyme and Rosemary chopped
Rock salt and pepper
100gm of soft goat’s cheese ( Valencay- a good quality goats cheese )
75ml of double cream
6 tsp of honey comb
2 tbsp of honey
1 tbsp of toasted pine nuts
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180°C. Place beetroot on the centre of a large sheet of baking foil and sprinkle with olive oil seasoning and the herbs. Make a neat foil package and place this on a baking sheet and cook for about 30-40 minutes or until tender. Let the beets cool before peeling. The beetroot can be cooked the day before and kept in the fridge in a sealed container. When wanted they can be taken out and peeled. Using an adjustable blade slicer or very sharp knife, slice 3 of the beets very thinly.
- Puree the remaining beet with 2 tbsp honey and pass through a fine sieve. You should now have a nice thick silky puree which you can put in a piping bag or squeeze bottle. This can be prepared the day before and kept in the fridge.
- Crumble goat’s cheese and place in a bowl and mix preferable using an electric mixer. When the goat’s cheese is nice and light reduce the speed of the mixer and at a gently rate add the cream being careful not too over whip the mixture or it will turn grainy as the cream turns to butter.
- This colourful starter really looks dramatic on a long rectangular white plate. Slightly overlap in a straight line 6 slices on each of the 6 plates. Using two teaspoons carefully quenelle three dollops of the whipped goats cheese and place them evenly along the row of beets.
- Choose the same spot on each plate and place the tsp of the honey comb.
- For the final flourish scatter the pine nuts over the beetroot and make decorative swirls of the honeyed beetroot sauce.