I am having a serious love affair at the moment. A love affair with the humble beetroot. This is an affair unlike any other. Quite intense, actually. I think about it all day and try to work it into every meal (mostly settling on having it simply roasted). And to think, as a child I absolutely hated it. But then, we didn’t have simple, whole beetroot in our house when I was young. We only had the bottled variety. Grated beetroot in a sweet, sour pickling liquid which looked almost black in the large bottles it came in. When spooned onto your plate it would bleed it’s purple liquor into everything surrounding it. Chicken, beans, salad and carrots were all given a psychedelic hue. I absolutely hated it.
  
But now I am obsessed with its earthy flavour and I don’t even mind the stain it leaves on my fingers after I’ve roughly pushed the soft, roasted skins off of the purple orbs. And in this tarte tatin, the beautiful beetroot comes alive. The obvious partner for beetroot is soft, tangy goat’s cheese and so, I mixed a fresh Chevin with a little Mascarpone to create a lovely, creamy accompaniment to the tart (similar to what I did for my Tomato Tarte Tatin).
Serve this with a zesty side salad for a chic lunch or serve in mini-form as a delectable starter for a dinner party.
Ingredients
- 500 g baby beetroot cooked
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 roll ready-made puff pastry
for the goat's cheese cream
- 100 g chevin
- 50 g Mascarpone
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°c.
- Slice the beetroot in half.
- In an oven-proof frying pan, place the sugar and Balsamic and allow to melt for 30 seconds before adding the baby beetroot. Allow the beetroot to cook in the syrup for 5 mins then remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
- Season to taste then top with a circle of puff pastry and tuck in the edges.
- Place the tart in the oven and allow to bake for 10-15 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and cooked through.
- Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 30 seconds before turning it out onto a plate.
- Serve at room temperature with the goat's cheese cream.
- To make the cream, mix the goat's cheese and the Mascarpone together.
You state baby beetroot cooked, are you saying bake the beetroot before cooking or use it raw, as it will caramelise and then bake in to oven????
No, you need to use cooked beetroot. The amount of time in the oven with the pastry will not be enough to fully cook the beetroot.
I love love this recipe! Easy to make. Baby beetroot was out of season, I used small beetroot. I oven roasted them the day before. I also used goat curd instead of the chevin mascarpone mix. Super easy with a great result. This is a keeper.
Hi I’m keen to make this recipe. Do you use tinned beetroot, or do you cook them yourself first. If you cook them yourself, do you boil or roast them for this dish?
Thanks!
The baby beetroot cooks in the oven with the pastry.
Made this for my family as a side dish to a hearty soup. Everyone was quick to have seconds! We’re not fans of goat cheese, so instead I used 2 heaping spoons of sour cream and 3oz cream cheese whipped. Wonderful recipe idea, thank you!
Hi, I am making this for our early friends-Christmas! Is it possible to make this the previous night and then still serve it at room temperature? Will it be fine the next day? Or should I rather make it fresh on the day?
I prefer it fresh on the day, puff pastry can be a little waxy when served room temperature or the next day.
I am making this as a side for our rustic harvest themed Thanksgiving! Super excited to try this once it’s done!
Oooh, that sounds amazing. Please let me know what you think once you’ve tried it!
So beautiful and yet so simple, I’ll definitely be giving this a go!
Thanks!!