CHARRED RADISHES & BUTTERED BABY BEETS WITH STRACCIATELLA
SERVES 3 / PREPARATION 10 MINUTES / COOKING 10 MINUTES
This dish uses beautiful heirloom vegetables – radishes and beets that reflect New Zealand’s winter garden offering and are perfect for the season. I highly recommend using Viavio Stracciatella from Nelson, which is a personal favourite of mine, but any quality stracciatella you can find locally will work great.
CHARRED FRENCH BREAKFAST RADISHES
9 French Breakfast radishes
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon flaky sea salt
Heat the oven to 185℃.
Wash the radishes under running water, making sure to get all the soil off. Place the radishes in a bowl, add the oil and salt, and toss to season.
Chargrill the radishes for 1 minute on each side, then place in the oven for 5 minutes – the radishes should have some crunch once cooked.
BUTTERED BABY GOLD BEETS & PISTACHIO LEMON BUTTER
4 Baby Gold beets
3 tablespoons salted butter
¼ teaspoon soft brown sugar
½ teaspoon flaky sea salt juice of ½ lemon
2 tablespoons pistachio kernels, roasted
Wash the beets under running water, making sure to get all the soil off. Slice the beets into medallions, approximately 0.5cm thick.
Place a pan over a low heat and melt the butter, then add the beets and cook on a low heat for 2-3 minutes. When the beets are brown, add the sugar and the salt, leaving the heat on low until the sugar and the butter are lightly browned. Then squeeze lemon juice over the beets and deglaze the pan by letting the liquid bubble up, scraping the base of the pan with a wooden spoon and mixing well. Add the pistachio kernels.
STRACCIATELLA DIP
3 tablespoons stracciatella ½ teaspoon extra virgin olive oil ¼ teaspoon multi-floral honey
Place the stracciatella, oil and honey in a bowl and lightly whip until combined.
TO SERVE
Place a spoonful of the stracciatella dip in the middle of a high-rimmed plate and spread evenly. Place the radishes and beets on top of the stracciatella. Drizzle the remaining pistachio and lemon butter over the radishes and beets.