Yotam Ottolenghi's Midweek Beetroot Salad

OK, first of all I have to say that how much I love Yotam Ottolenghi's food. His restaurant in Islington is all of the things you want from a restaurant. It's friendly, low key and the food is probably some of the best I've tasted. I was pleased (sadly, it was a Christmas day level of excitement) to see in this week's Guardian his Beetroot Recipes. 

Beetroot is, like many root vegetables, the sort of thing that can get very boring, very quickly. Apart from the usual pickled variety or in a special Sunday roast, I hadn't really experimented much with it. This simple salad is perfect for a midweek meal with some fresh bread, as a stater or in a lunch box. In mine, I swapped the Goats Cheese for some Mozzarella, but you could use any soft cheese and still get the same effect. I used vacuum packed ready cooked Beetroot to save time, I also griddled my peaches as I'm not to keen on hot and cold together. 

Sorry about the poor quality pictures, for some reason my phone camera was playing up and would not focus in the low light. I promise that this is just a one off. 

Ottolenghi's Beetroot and Peach Salad

Ingredients

1 Lemon, skin shaved off in one long piece
60ml Olive oil
4 tsp Cider vinegar
1 tsp Honey
1 Garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp Finely grated lemon zest, plus 1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt
8 Medium beetroot, stalks trimmed (a mixture of red and golden, or all red)
2 Ripe peaches, stoned and cut into 1cm wedges 
75g Rindless soft goat's cheese (or any soft cheese)
1½ tsp Aniseed, toasted and roughly crushed (or fennel seed)  
5g Basil leaves, larger leaves torn

Heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas mark 6. Put the lemon peel in a small saucepan with the olive oil. Bring to a simmer on a medium heat, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Lift out the peel, discard half and pat dry the other half, then cut into long thin strips. Set aside.

Put the infused oil in a small bowl and whisk in the vinegar, honey, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice and half a teaspoon salt. Set aside.  

If you are using the vacuum packed ready cooked Beetroot, cut them into wedges, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Wrap the beetroot individually in aluminium foil, place on a baking tray and roast for 45 minutes, or until cooked through (the cooking time varies a lot, so insert a small knife into a beet to check that it is cooked: it should go in with little resistance). Remove and set aside for 10 minutes, then remove the foil and peel the beets while they are still warm (wear plastic gloves or they will stain your hands). Cut the beets into 1cm-wide wedges and, if using both, keep the red and golden beetroot in separate bowls and pour half the dressing over each batch (otherwise, put all the beets and dressing in one bowl).

Then put a griddle pan on the hob on a high heat. Place the quartered peaches with oil in the pan, turning every 30 seconds. Once they have the lovely griddle marks on both sides, set aside to cool slightly. 

Layer the beetroot on a large platter, along with the peach. Try not to mix everything together too much, otherwise the red beetroot will bleed. Dot with the cheese, sprinkle over the aniseed and basil, finish with the reserved lemon strips and serve.

I hope that you are all having a nice week and eating well. It has been a busy week of baby showers, university and work again for me. If you try any of my recipes please let me know how they turn out, feedback is more than welcome.  Here is a link to another song that I'm loving this week, and every week. It's the master of everything, Elton John - Bennie and the Jets http://youtu.be/4hX5fRbsmE8