ROASTED BEETROOT & TOMATOES WITH YOGHURT & NASTURTIUM SALSA

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 (beet) bleeds into the yoghurt and contrasts with the red tomatoes, the green salsa and the bright orange petals. Use small beetroot 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 (strained plain) yoghurt instead.

SERVES 4 AS A SIDE DISH

500g (1lb 2oz) plain yoghurt

Olive oil

400g (14oz) beetroot

200g (7oz) cherry tomatoes

25g (1oz) walnuts

100g (3½oz) mixed nasturtium leaves and flowers

10g (¼oz) fresh ginger, peeled and grated or finely chopped

A pinch of sugar

1 garlic clove, peeled and grated

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Tiny nasturtium leaves or petals, to garnish

If you are straining the yoghurt, put it in a sieve (strainer) or colander lined with a piece of muslin (cheesecloth) 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 the handle of a kitchen cupboard above the bowl, so that gravity helps to strain the yoghurt more quickly. Otherwise, just give the cloth a little shake or stir every so often to encourage the straining process. 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. You can discard the milky water or keep it to use in bread-making.

Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F/Gas 3. Scrub the beetroot 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.

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

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.

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.

When the beetroot 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.

Once the beetroot are cool enough to handle, peel them and cut them into wedges. If they are fresh enough, I find the skins just slip off.

Put the nasturtium leaves and flowers in a food processor with the ginger and pulse a couple of times until finely chopped. Drizzle in 4 tbsp 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.

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.