Beetroot & feta with honey, rosemary & chilli caramelised walnuts
Sweet, earthy beetroot and salty cheese are classic bedfellows. This happy pair is taken to the next level in this vegcentric recipe with a generous drizzle of wholegrain mustard vinaigrette made using Apsall’s cyder vinegar. The tang of Aspall Cyder Vinegar and punchy mustard cut through the natural sweetness of the beetroot, and crumbled feta adds a wonderful salty tang which provides a very pleasing contrast. This has to be one of our very favourite vegcentric dishes to serve to friends.
Honey, rosemary & chilli caramelised nuts arguably steal the show! Simple, toasted walnuts will work well too, but these caramelised nuts add fabulous texture, as well as multiple layers of flavour - fragrant rosemary, a sweet/salty dynamic, and a wicked spike of chilli heat. For the best possible result, begin with lightly toasted walnuts.
Prep time: 20 minutes (exc. the prep time for a batch of wholegrain mustard dressing)
Cook time: 35-45 minutes
This recipe serves 4 as a starter, or as a main course if part of a wider spread
Ingredients for the salad:
6 small/medium beetroot
100 g feta cheese
6 sprigs of thyme
4 tbsp wholegrain mustard dressing
½ tsp flakey sea salt
¼ tsp cracked pepper
Ingredients for the walnuts:
60 g / ½ cup walnut halves
1 tsp finely chopped rosemary
1 tbsp honey
½ tsp chilli flakes
½ tsp flakey sea salt
Method:
Rinse the beetroots well to remove any loose dirt, then trim off the shoots and stems. Cover generously with cold water, and bring to simmer over a medium heat. Cook gently for 35-45 minutes, depending on size. Pierce one gently with a knife to check it’s cooked through, then drain and allow the steam to billow off well. While the beetroots are still warm, rub off their skin and discard.
While the beetroots are simmering you have time to make the caramelised walnuts. Here’s the step-by-step:
Tear a section of parchment paper and spread this on your counter next to your hob - this will catch the hot nuts later on.
Strip the rosemary leaves from their stalks, and finely chop.
Dry-toast the nuts in a small frying pan over a medium heat. Keep shuffling them around the pan; after 4-6 minutes you will smell a smokey, toasty aroma, and see some darker patches develop on the nuts.
Turn the heat down low and add the honey, chopped rosemary, chilli flakes and sea salt. Shimmy your frying pan around right away to coat the nuts evenly.
Stir and shuffle the pan for 3-5 minutes until the nuts look glossy and crispy, and the pan looks dry.
Tip the nuts on the parchment paper and spread evenly. They will crisp up as they cool.
Slice your cooked and peeled beetroot into 1 cm thick rounds and crumble the feta.
On your chosen serving dish layer up the sliced beetroot with crumbled feta, a drizzle of wholegrain mustard dressing and freshly stripped thyme leaves. Scatter your caramelised walnuts over the final layer, along with any last thyme leaves, feta, wholegrain mustard dressing and a twist of black pepper.
This recipe was written for friends Aspall’s Vinegar and it’s best made with thier fantastic Apple Cyder Vinegar. For other recipes in this series, please see our Mustard-roast pork chops with apples and sage, and one of our simplest salads on the site, a speedy pea & new potato number.
