Flavours of Greece by Rosemary Barron

Author:Rosemary Barron
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grub Street Cookery
Published: 2013-07-02T04:00:00+00:00

Beetroot Island–Style

Panzaria Nisiotika

Serves 6 as a meze, 3 as a vegetable dish or for a light lunch

For this ancient dish island cooks choose small young beetroot, each purple-red globe nestling in glossy green leaves. Crisp leaves are a good indication of freshness but, even more important, they’re packed with vitamins and minerals – so the Greeks make them an integral part of the dish. Clay-pot cooking gives the beetroot the best flavour but they can also be ovenbaked or boiled. An appetizing light lunch or a good side dish for grilled or roasted pork or chicken, Beetroot Island-Style is also an attractive addition to a meze table with Fried Cheese (page 38), olives and Lamb’s Liver with Lemon Juice and Rigani (page 35).

6 small beetroot (about 5 cm/2 inches in diameter) with their leaves

1 small red or mild onion, cut into thin rings

Strained juice of 1 large lemon

Coarse-grain sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste

1 teaspoon dried rigani (page 14)

75-115 ml/3-4 fl oz extra virgin olive oil, to taste

Trim the stalks and root ends from the beetroot. Reserve the green leaves and scrub the beetroot with a stiff brush under cold running water. Bake in a clay pot or baking dish (page 205), or boil 15 minutes in boiling (salted) water, or until just tender when pierced with the point of a knife. Drain, and when cool enough to handle, remove the skins with a small paring knife.

Place the onion in a glass or china bowl and sprinkle with half the lemon juice, salt and pepper, and rigani. Toss to mix, cover, and set aside.

Remove the tough stalks from the beetroot greens and discard any leaves that are not fresh and glossy; leave thin tender stalks intact but trim to 5 cm/2 inches. Thoroughly rinse, tear into pieces, and place in a saucepan. Add 4 tablespoons boiling water, cover, and cook 2-3 minutes over low heat, or until just tender; do not overcook. Drain in a colander set over a bowl, pressing the greens against the colander with the back of a wooden spoon. (Reserve the mineral-rich cooking liquid for soup stock.)

While the beetroot are still warm, cut lengthways into quarters (the traditional shape) or into 4 cm/1½ inch julienne (matchsticks). Combine with half the olive oil and half the remaining lemon juice and salt and pepper in a non-reactive bowl and toss to coat. Arrange the beetroot on one side of a platter and the greens on the other side. Sprinkle with the remaining olive oil and lemon juice and a generous amount of salt and pepper and scatter the onion over the beetroot. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Variations

Coarsely chop the cooked greens. Combine with the quartered beetroot and add the lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper; omit the onion and rigani.

To serve taverna-style, use only the beetroot; save the greens for Beetroot Greens Salad (page 222). Cut the cooked beetroot into julienne (matchsticks). Add the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, and 1 tablespoon crushed coriander seeds; omit the rigani.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.