Sunday 26 April 2009

beet threesome


I love em i really do…beets beets beets i can eat em all day and all of the night. In the post regarding sole the other day, I roasted some beets and boiled some beet stems ( not the greens…save for a bit later)…so check that post to see how to roast em properly and boil the stems till they are pasta like. I also had another chorizo sausage left over so i decided to make a nice “pasta” dish with my sausage and a threesome of beets…threesome you say…whats the idea…to use one ingredient in multiple of ways to taste new flavours and cooking ideas from the same ingredient …

Pasta with red sauce with greens and sausauge…what could be simpler and tastier than making it all with beets…the sauce, the pasta, and the greens…all from one bunch of beets and in less than one hour ( if you roasted and boiled previously…its all about doing things in advance..)

STUFF

6 medium sized Roasted beets ( peel if not scrubbed)dice

1 onion, peeled and small dice

1 shallot, peeled and small dice

4 clove garlic peeled, smashed and chopped( reserve 2)

1 tomato, seeded and chopped

Parsley, cleaned and chopped ( or any herb you have around)

3 oz red wine vinegar

liquid to cover ( veg stock or water with a splash of EVOO, or add more wine and reduce)

beet greens( from same bunch of beets) or use spinach, chard, kale if your beets had no greens

beet stems ( from same bunch of beets) or use chard stems, etc…

s,p

EVOO( extra virgin olive oil)

2 sausages (cooked and sliced thinly) or some pan fried spicy tofu, grilled shrimp, etc

BOLD METHODs and commentary

1. Heat pan over medium high heat till very hot ( sprinkle some water in to test…pop, pop, sizzle YES)

2. Add a small amount of oil to coat pan, swirl it, and then add onions, garlic, and shallots

2. Sweat these down ( cook down till translucent, no browning…so stir, and add a touch of water if necessary)

4. Add your chopped beets, tomato, red wine vinegar and enough liquid to just cover top of beets.

5. Simmer (liquid slightly bubbling) till beets have softened considerably.

6. Using a blender, food processor, stick blender, or not ( if not available then skip the excess liquid and keep veggies chopped even finer to have a chunky sauce), add all product including the parsley into blender and quickly pulse to get everything moving.

7. Once you have a somewhat saucy mix and no beets all over the ceiling, then drizzle a little bit of olive oil into the blender as you mix on a low setting…it should nicely emulsify (incorporate into a silky sexy sauce) and you can add a bit of water if its too thick or more EVOO for more richness…now you can taste it...does it need salt, pepper, some acid ( squeeze a bit of lemon juice, zest some lemon in it or a splash of vinegar)...this is when we season and finalize...

8. Place sauce in a closed container, wash out your blender and get ready to eat in five minutes!!!

9. In the same clean sauce pan, heat over medium high heat, add small coating of oil, and then add your beet greens and saute for 1 minute.

10. Add your sliced sausage and beet stems to the mix and stir till warmed. Taste, season and turn off stove.

11. One each plate pour a nice circle of the beet marinara, with tongs spiral up a mound of beet pasta, greens and sausage…and serve as is or add some shaved parmesan, some crusty bread, a nice simple salad, and whatever feels right…and to me making an entire meal out of one bunch of beets and two sausages feels very very right!!!

MORE DISHES FOR WASHING

While making this dish i boiled off some chick peas ( soaked day before) and used some of the garlic, lemon juice, and parsley that we chopped for the beet dishes, to make a nice batch of hummus ( 1 cup chick peas, 2 cloves garlic, 2 T tahini, juice of 1 lemon, s,p, drizzle of olive oil) and also have a cup of chick peas cooked in the fridge for a nice salad tomorrow…speaking of emulsions… and my favorite pasttime … whisking dressings!!!

One should never worry about having extra of your herbs, onions, veggies, etc…it will always get used another day, another way, and will save you time and effort and allow for quick morning omelettes, easy salads, simple dressings and like this evenings threesome…a sexy sauce…

2 comments:

  1. ok - so i'm finally going to try the beet threesome this week!!!! and i LOVE the new site!

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  2. Let me know how it comes out...and dont wear anything white that day Unless you want a nice natural beety dye!!!

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