Roasted Beetroot and Goat’s Cheese Salad with Chive and Cashew Pesto

Ah beetroot…my old friend. Having fallen out of love with beetroot after cooking it so much in preparation for MasterChef, I decided this weekend was the right time for us to reconnect. I’ve been subject to a lot of nagging from friends and family to recreate my quarter final dish so I created this jazzed down version which I thought would be perfect for feeding our friends at the weekend.

Serves 6 for a light lunch with a big baguette.

Ingredients:

12 Fresh beetroot with stems and leaves intact if possible

2 125g soft goat’s cheeses (I like soft mould but any soft will work well)

For the pesto:

30g chives

50g unsalted cashew nuts

120g manchego

Zest of half a lemon

Bag of pea shoots

Bag of baby watercress

Juice of an orange

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Splash of white wine vinegar

Extra virgin olive oil

Light olive oil for roasting

Salt

Fresh black pepper

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 5, 190 degrees.
• Trim the stems from the beetroot leaving about 2cm left then wash and peel the beetroot with a speed peeler. (You might choose to do this in the sink under running water to avoid alarming purple hands which last a couple of days).
• Wash the stems and pat them dry with kitchen paper ready for sautéing later.
• Season the beets with salt and pepper then place in a roasting tin and drizzle with some light olive oil or similar oil. Give them a shake about to make sure they’re all coated then cover loosely with foil and roast for 45 minutes. When they’re cooked, leave them to one side to cool.
• In a food processor, combine the manchego, cashews and lemon zest then pulse until the ingredients start to look like fine breadcrumbs.
• Add the chives and about 5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil along with a good pinch of salt. Keep pulsing until the pesto starts coming together – you can add more of anything if you think it needs it, just trust your own taste and keep stopping to dip your spoon in to check.
• For the dressing pour 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive in to a container with a lid (a little Tupperware box is perfect), add the juice of an orange, the mustard, a tablespoon of white wine vinegar and a generous amount of fresh black pepper. Shake vigorously until the mixture emulsifies and there is no layer of oil on the top. Taste it and adjust to your tastes.
• Choose the best stems, discarding any that look a bit tired. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and sauté the stems for about 5 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper as you put them in the pan.
• To assemble, spread the pea shoots and watercress across your biggest plate then dot teaspoon amounts of the pesto evenly in between the leaves.
• Trim the tops off the beets and slice them top to toe to reveal the beautiful marbled pattern inside.
• Arrange the beet halves over the leaves and top with the sautéed stems.
• Spoon the dressing all over the salad then cut the goat’s cheese in to slices, placing them gently on top.
• Slice up a fresh baguette and place the gorgeous big plate in the middle of the table so you can chat, eat and enjoy.

Garlic Spatchcock Chicken with Creamy Orzo and Rocket

This is a really easy tea with notably very little washing up! We have served this as a crowd pleaser for friends in the past but tonight I’ve made it for two. You can add your own twist with different vegetable sides or by using a regular soft cheese if you prefer.

Ingredients

• 1 medium chicken (around 1.4kg)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 5 tablespoons light olive oil
• 250g orzo pasta
• 150ml half fat crème fraiche
• 100g soft goat’s cheese
• 2 lemons
• 70g fresh rocket
• Small bunch of parsley
• Salt and fresh black pepper

Method

• Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 6, 200 degrees.
• Flip the chicken so the breast is facing down then use a strong pair of scissors to cut down the back bone. Once you’ve cut all the way down turn the chicken over and use your hands to push down until you hear a crack and you feel the bird flatten out.
• Place the chicken in a large roasting tin.
• Bash or blend the garlic with the oil until completely smooth (any pieces of garlic will burn in the oven) then pour over the chicken and rub in all over.
• Season the chicken on both sides with plenty of salt and pepper then roast for 1 hour basting 2 or 3 times with the juices from the tin.
• Once the chicken is out of the oven, cover loosely with foil while you prepare the orzo.
• Cook the orzo in plenty of boiling, salted water for 7 minutes then drain keeping about a mug full of the cooking water.
• Add the crème fraiche, goat’s cheese and juice of 2 lemons then mix well. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.
• Allow to simmer on a low heat for 5 minutes then taste again. Adjust flavourings to your own preference (salt, pepper, lemon) then stir through the rocket and turn off the heat.
• Roughly chop the parsley and stir through the orzo.

How you eat this is down to you! I removed the breasts and legs from the chicken then served on top of the orzo but this could work equally well in the middle of the table so people can help themselves. If you’re making this for a crowd chicken thighs would be ideal on or off the bone. I don’t tend to cook chicken breasts but if you prefer them, a griddled breast sliced on top of the pasta would also work well.

Baked Figs with Red Onion, Shallots and Balsamic Vinegar

Figs are at their best at the moment, and they’re also on offer everywhere so it’s a great excuse to eat loads of them! This recipe couldn’t be easier, but the luxury of figs and shallots makes it feel special enough for a Friday night tea. Figs are naturally sweet so they taste fantastic with pork and a peppery rocket salad but if you fancy skipping the meat, I would go for a crusty roll, halved and smothered in goat’s cheese then baked until warmed through.

Ingredients:

• 4 fresh figs
• 5 or 6 shallots, peeled and trimmed
• 1 large or 2 medium red onions, peeled and trimmed
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees (gas mark 6) and put your griddle pan on to get super duper hot.
• Quarter the figs and red onion(s) then put them in to a roasting dish with the shallots.
• Drizzle generously with olive oil and add the vinegar, season really well and move the ingredients around gently to make sure everything is coated.
• Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes.
• Leave to cool down for 5 minutes before you tuck in, so the flavours have chance to settle.
• Some chopped flat leaf parsley makes a lovely fresh garnish.

 

Double Cheese and Pancetta Skins

I couldn’t possibly write this recipe out without giving a special shout out to our gorgeous friend, Katie who has a special fondness for all our recipes – especially this one. Sophie made these for New Year in 2010 and she still talks about them regularly – small pleasures eh Kate? Our late Dad also used to make these for us when we were kids, filled with corned beef, onion and tomato puree, so eating it always brings back memories for us.

These quantities make 12 skins so you could double up for a buffet or make triple if Kate’s coming for tea.

Ingredients:

• 6 large white potatoes
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 100g soft goat’s cheese
• 100g cheddar, grated
• 130g pancetta cubes
• 1 red chilli, chopped
• Knob of butter
• Large pinch of salt
• Few twists of freshly ground black pepper

Method:

• Pre-heat your oven to about 180 degrees or gas mark 5 and bake the potatoes for about an hour.
• While the potatoes are cooking, fry the pancetta cubes in a dry pan until starting to crisp up, then add the onions, softening for about ten minutes. Once the onions are soft, simply take the pan off the heat and allow to cool while the potatoes finish cooking.
• After an hour, remove the potatoes from the oven, but don’t turn off the oven just yet.
• Slice the potatoes in half horizontally to get the maximum surface area, then allow to cool down until you can pick them up without burning your hands.
• Scoop out the flesh in to a big bowl, and put the skins on to a baking and back in to the oven to crisp up.
• While the skins are crisping up, combine the rest of the ingredients with the potato flesh and stir a couple of times. I like to leave it a little bit ‘unmixed’ for good bites of texture from the pancetta and creaminess from the goat’s cheese.
• Take the skins out of the oven and put the grill on.
• Now pile the filling back in to the potato skins and press down slightly with the back of a fork to close up any gaps. If you love cheese, you can go triple and grate some extra cheddar for the top of each skin.

• Brown under the grill for about ten minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

As this was a midweek tea, I served with a big crunchy salad with whole grain mustard dressing.

Some other combinations we’ve tried and loved:

• Spring onion, mozzarella and smoked bacon
• Chilli con carne and cheese, topped with sour cream
• Roger’s favourite – corned beef, onion and tomato puree
• Mushroom and parsley with blue cheese
• Chopped chicken with green or red pesto

If you’re making ahead of time for a party, you can do everything except grilling the day before you’re due to eat.