Roasted beetroot and tomatoes with yoghurt and nasturtium salsa recipe

Roasted beetroot and tomatoes with yoghurt and nasturtium salsa recipe

This recipe from chef Erin Bunting shows how using flowers not only brings an element of beauty to the food on our plates, but can offer new and exciting flavours too. Words Erin Bunting and Jo Facer, Photographs Sharon Cosgrove

Serves 4 as a side dish

We are Jo (an organic gardener and teacher) and Erin (a cook, recipe developer and food stylist) and together we run The Edible Flower, a seven-acre organic small holding in Co. Down. We run supper clubs, cooking and growing workshops, volunteer days and a CSA (community-supported agriculture) scheme called Farm & Feast. Our mission is to grow and cook truly sustainable, delicious food – for the customer, grower, and the planet. To connect ourselves and our community to the soil, the seasons, and our food. And to bring joy and beauty while doing all the above.

I love this combination of warm roasted vegetables with cool yoghurt and a drizzle of peppery salsa verde. I particularly love the colours, as the pink beetroot bleeds into the yoghurt and contrasts with the red tomatoes, the green salsa and the bright orange petals. Use small beetroots if you can – they are generally sweeter. Remember to start making this dish in good time, since it will take you a couple of hours to strain the yoghurt. To save time, you could use Greek yoghurt instead.

BUY THE BOOK This is an edited extract from the book The Edible Flower: A Modern Guide to Growing, Cooking and Eating Edible Flowers by Erin Bunting and Jo Facer, which is published by Laurence King, priced £30.

How to make roasted beetroot and tomatoes with yoghurt and nasturtium salsa

Ingredients

  • 500g plain yoghurt
  • Olive oil
  • 400g beetroot
  • 200g cherry tomatoes
  • 25g walnuts
  • 100g mixed nasturtium leaves and flowers
  • 10g fresh ginger (peeled and grated or finely chopped)
  • Pinch of sugar
  • 1 garlic clove (peeled and grated)
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Tiny nasturtium leaves or petals to garnish
  • Bread, to serve

Methods

  • Step 1

    If you are straining the yoghurt, put it in a sieve or colander lined with a piece of muslin or a clean dish towel and set it over a bowl. If you can, tie up the ends of the cloth and suspend it from a hook or cupboard handle above a bowl, so gravity helps to strain the yoghurt more quickly. Otherwise, just give the cloth a little shake or stir every so often. Leave it for a couple of hours. You will be left with thin milky coloured water in the bowl and thick yoghurt in the cloth. If you want you can keep the milky water to use in bread-making.

  • Step 2

    Preheat the oven to 160ºC/320ºF/Gas 3. Scrub the beetroots well and put them in an ovenproof dish with a lid. Drizzle over a little olive oil and season well with salt. Toss the beetroot in the oil and salt until they are well coated, then put on the lid.

  • Step 3

    Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Toss with 2tsp olive oil and plenty of salt and pepper, then arrange on a baking sheet, cut sides up.

  • Step 4

    Bake the tomatoes for 1½ hours, until soft, sticky and sweet. At the same time, cook the beetroot for about an hour, checking after 45 minutes to see if they are soft by sticking a small, sharp knife into the centre of one.

  • Step 5

    Meanwhile, put the walnuts on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 15 minutes. Allow to cool and then roughly chop into large chunks.

  • Step 6

    When the beetroots are soft, take them out of the oven and leave them to cool in the dish with the lid on. Sealing the moisture in means they will be easier to peel once cool.

  • Step 7

    Once the beetroots are cool enough to handle, peel and cut into wedges. If they are fresh enough, the skins should slip off.

  • Step 8

    Put the nasturtium leaves and flowers in a food processor with the ginger and pulse a couple of times until finely chopped. Drizzle in 4tbsp olive oil, the sugar and a pinch of salt, and pulse again briefly to combine. Taste, and add more salt if necessary. Alternatively, chop everything finely by hand and mix in a small bowl.

  • Step 9

    Add the garlic to the yoghurt and season well with salt and pepper. Put the yoghurt on a plate or small platter, using a spatula or the back of a spoon to spread it out. Drizzle over two thirds of the nasturtium and ginger salsa, swirling it a little into the yoghurt, then arrange the beetroot and tomatoes on top. Dot over the remaining salsa, sprinkle with the walnuts and garnish with nasturtium petals or small leaves. Serve with plenty of bread to mop up the yoghurt.

© Sharon Cosgrove

This website is owned and published by Our Media Ltd. www.ourmedia.co.uk
© Our Media 2024