Beetroot Carpaccio with Rocket Salsa

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Beetroot Carpaccio with Rocket Salsa

This elegant Beetroot Carpaccio adorned with simple yet delicious rocket salsa makes the most impressive starter or light lunch. Packed full of flavour, simple to make, just exquisite.

Course Light Lunch, Starter

Cuisine British, International, Italian

Keyword beetroot carpaccio

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 50

Total Time 1 5

Servings servings

Calories 257kcal

Author Jo Allison

Equipment

Ingredients

450 g beetroot (3 medium beets) I used rainbow beetroot

Rocket Salsa

50 g rocket + more to serve
50 g pine nuts divided after toasting; see notes
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (optional) see notes
2 teaspoon (heaped) capers see notes
2-3 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice or to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Dressing

1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
salt to taste

Optional Extras

30 g feta cheese or vegan feta optional; see notes for possible substitutions

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6.
Wash and dry each beetroot well. Don't peel it as it's best roasted with skin on. Wrap each beet individually in aluminium foil and place on a baking tray. Roast in preheated oven for 45-60 minutes. The time will depend on the size of your beets. When they're ready you should be able to easily insert the knife into them.
***Quick Tip*** Refer to my handy guide on How to Cook Beetroot for more details.
450 g beetroot (3 medium beets)
As your beets are roasting, toast the pine nuts.
Toast them in a dry pan from cold on a low to medium heat for about 5 minutes. You should be able to start smelling them and see the change of colour from pale to light brown.
Keep an eye on them at all times, giving them a little shake or a stir from time to time to ensure even toasting.
Set aside.
50 g pine nuts
Prepare your rocket/arugula salsa.
Roughly chop the rocket, capers and half of the toasted pine nuts.
Put them in a bowl with nutritional yeast (if using) and olive oil and give it all a good mix.
Season to taste with salt, pepper and touch of lemon juice.
Set aside until needed.
50 g rocket, 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional) , 2 tsp (heaped) capers, 2-3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1 tsp lemon juice, salt and pepper, 50 g pine nuts
Once the beets are cooked and cooled down a bit gently remove the skin with a knife. It should be very easy and it should almost come away on its own.
Next, slice the beets very thinly using mandoline slicer or a knife. Take extreme care especially when using mandoline!
Prepare little dressing by mixing together olive oil and balsamic vinegar with a little salt to taste.
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1 tsp balsamic vinegar, salt
Assemble beet carpaccio by arranging thin beetroot slices on a serving plate overlapping slightly.
Drizzle over olive oil and balsamic dressing and top with rocket/arugula salsa nicely in the middle.
Sprinkle over some feta/vegan feta and other half of toasted pine nuts.
Serve and enjoy!
50 g pine nuts, 30 g feta cheese or vegan feta

Notes

Nutritional information is approximate, per serving (based on 4 servings) and should be treated as a rough guideline only.
Once toasted, divide the pine nuts in half. Use half in salsa and half as garnish at the end.
Nutritional yeast is optional and can be left out or substituted with grated vegetarian parmesan.
Capers can be substituted with green olives, cornichons or anchovies.
Feta can be substituted with goat's cheese, shavings of Parmesan or Manchego cheese or even crumbled smoked tofu.
Best served straight away but leftovers can be refrigerated and consumed within 3 days.
Not suitable for freezing.

Use beets which differ in colour to make this carpaccio even more visually impressive.

Roast your beets ahead of time when you have something else in the oven anyway. You'll save energy and make this carpaccio a true assembly job once ready to make it.

Swap mandoline slicer for wide vegetable peeler. Less lethal but still sharp so do take care.

Don't be tempted to peel your beets before roasting. They cook so much better in their skins which is a doddle to peel afterwards anyway.

Use a knife to check whether beets are cooked enough. It should insert very easily, almost glide in.

Beetroot does stain so do wear gloves if that's an issue for you. You can also use cut lemon on your stained hands afterwards to clean them very effectively.

Nutrition