A recipe from The Great Dixter Cookbook by Aaron Bertelsen. This is wonderful on its own or with a good roast chicken. Do try to hunt down some decent parmesan — it is worth the effort.
Ingredients
| 1 Tbsp | Butter, for greasing |
| 7 | Beetroot, golf-ball-size, and raw (Main) |
| 1 tsp | Dill leaves, finely chopped |
| 4 Tbsp | Cream |
| 2 Tbsp | Grated parmesan cheese (Main) |
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Directions
- Preheat the oven to 150C. Butter a 25cm diameter baking dish.
- Twist the leaves off the beetroots but leave the long roots attached. Gently wash off any soil, then place the beetroots on a double thickness of aluminium foil and wrap loosely. Put the parcel on a baking sheet and bake for about 2 hours, or until the beetroots are tender all the way through. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then cut off the roots and tops and peel off the skin.
- Increase the oven temperature to 200C. Slice the beetroots about 5 mm thick and arrange the slices in the prepared dish. Whisk the chopped dill into the cream in a small bowl and spoon it evenly over the beetroot. Sprinkle with the parmesan and a good grinding of black pepper. Put the dish back in the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes or so until everything is heated through and the parmesan is starting to brown.
GARDEN NOTES
Beetroot
Beetroot is incredibly easy to grow. The only things you really need to watch for are spacing, so that they have room to grow, and watering, so that they don’t run to seed. I grow several varieties. Detroit has a great rich flavour and a mouth-feel like a waxy potato. It bakes brilliantly. Crimson Globe looks beautiful. Slightly lighter in colour, it has distinct rings that remain visible after cooking. But my favourite of favourites has to be Boltardy, it is an excellent doer and lives up to its name.
