Roasted beetroot with dukkah and whipped feta
Beetroot is one of those vegetables that benefits from roasting like almost no other vegetable. It goes incredibly sweet and the earthyness gets softened. In this recipe the sweet beetroot is complimented by the salty whipped feta creme and some crunchy dukkah. Give it a try, the sweet taste of the beetroot has nothing in common with the vingegary taste of your childhood memory. I use dark beetroot for the recipe since I love the contrast of the almost black beetroot once it is roasted, in contrast to the white of the feta creme and the caramel colour of the dukkah. I have tried it with candy-striped beetroot, but the dish looked dull to me. There is nothing wrong with the taste, it is purley visual.
Ingredients
- 1 kg baby beetroot, halfed; if not available, regurlar beetroot, peeled, with adjusted cooking time
- cooking spray
- 250 g feta cheese
- 120 g plain creme cheese
- 80 g runny honey, divided 50:30
- 30 g lemon or lime juice
- 30 g olive oil
- 40 g dukkah shop-bought or homemade
- fresh thyme sprigs for decoration (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
- Spray an ovenproofed dish with cooking spray and roast the beetroots covered for 1 hour or until they are cooked through (depending on the seize of your beetroot).
- Remove the cover during the last 10 minutes of roasting time.
- Whip the feta cheese, cream cheese and honey in a food processor until smooth.
- Store the whipped feta creme in the refrigerator until you plate up.
- If you make your own dukkah, you can do that while the beetroot is roasting. Check out my homemade recipe here.
- Whisk together the remaining honey (30g), the lemon or lime juice and the olive oil.
- Let the beetroot cool down a few minutes and then mix them with the honey and lemon dressing.
- If I serve this as a starter, I place a dollop of feta creme in the middle of the plate, top with some beetroot and sprinkle with dukkah. But feel free to serve the dish anyway you like…