Hellenic: Roasted Beetroot & Feta Mint Mousse

[Alexandria Profile]

If you are an enthusiast of authentic Greek Regional Cuisine, then you should definitely try this .. It is a fave when we are home and simple to prepare. A very dear colleague of mine at the Hellenic Foreign Travel Board in Athens, had given me the recipe a few years ago and it is a fave ..

Roasted Beetroot & Feta Mint Mousse ..

250 Ml. Greek or Italian Evoo
100 grams of Roasted Pine Nuts or Pistachios (de-shelled)
Coarsely Chopped: A bunch of fresh Mint or Spearment Leaves
Coarsely Chopped: A bunch of fresh Italian Parsley
1 1/2 Cups of Feta Cheese ( 200 grams approx. ) *** One can also turn this into an Italian Mousse by using Ricotta verses Feta .. or French with Chevre (goat cheese ) ..
1 dried red chili capscium pepper ( a horn shaped Spanish guindilla )
1 Tsp .. Scant of salt to taste
1 / 2 Tsp. Freshly ground Black Pepper
3 tblsps fresh lemon juice

8 small red beetroots

For the Vinaigrette:

1/ 2 Cup freshly squeezed orange juice
Greek or Italian Evoo
Dijon - 2 tsps ..
Greek honey - 2 tsps ..
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1) Whisk all the ingredients for the Mousse in a blender and refrigerate to firm up. Note: I do not combine the nuts, I serve in the mousse whole ..
2) Rub the washed beetroots with Evoo, salt and coarse black pepper. Wrap them in aluminum foil and bake at 180 C degrees for 1 hour or until tender. Peel and quarter the beetroots without going all the way through the bottom, of the beets.
3) Place a little of the mousse in the middle of each beetroot and drizzle the well combined vinaigrette over ..

Enjoy .. Serve with crusty warm bread or toasted Pita and a bottle of Greek Rosé ..

[karadekoolaid Profile]

Beetroot is very much underestimated as a vegetable, in my opinion. I´ve actually met a lot of people who can´t stand it!
The sweetness of beetroot goes together extremely well with the sharpness of goat cheese - or any other acidic cheese.
I was wondering what to prepare as a starter for some friends one day, and I hit on this - a Beetroot and goat cheese " Napoleon", with a wild raspberry coulis. I know, it sounds awfully exotic, but it wasn´t.
I had some cooked beetroot left over . I had half a log of local goat cheese. I had less that half a sheet of frozen puff pastry - not really enough to make a pie with. And I´d made a raspberry coulis from some of the wild raspberries ( which grow in my garden), after doing some jam.
This was the result:

Beetroot and Goat Cheese Napoleon.jpg

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Bought a bunch of beetroot today

Some will probably be julienned and made into a salad with red onion, balsamic and dill The rest will be baked slowly and then eaten as a vegetable.

I love beetroot but I think a lot of English people are put off by cheap pickled beetroot

[Renee Profile]

I've just realised that I have all the ingredients except for the fresh beetroot. I must make the effort because it is something that I would enjoy. I can get golden beetroot too, but would prefer to use the red.

That starter looks so delicious KK! It has turned out perfectly.

[Alexandria Profile]

Karakoolaide,

I am a grand fan of fresh wild beetroot with feta ..

Your photo is lovely ..

( I just do not do frozen pastry dough ever .. Not my cup of tea .. )

Beetroot here is usually bought in jars and drained of its beetroot juice and used as garnish in some salads ..

However, having travelled to Greece, the recipe I posted was given to us, and we have been preparing it since ..

Since I shall be off tomorrow ( Sunday - Tuesday ), we shall drive up to my parents, and I shall prepare it there since we are much closer to Cadaqués than Central Barcelona ..


Thank you for all your feedback ..

Have a lovely weekend ..

[Alexandria Profile]

Renée,

Sorry to hear that you do not have some fresh beetroot ..

Well, perhaps you shall get some on Monday ..

It is a stunningly gorgeous summer salad ..

Have a lovely weekend ..

[Alexandria Profile]

Renée,

Sorry to hear that you do not have some fresh beetroot ..

Well, perhaps you shall get some on Monday ..

It is a stunningly gorgeous summer salad ..

Have a lovely weekend ..

[Alexandria Profile]

Sue,

Thank you for your feedback. I adore baked beetroot .. A Catalan Oddity !

Spaniards who are gastronomically "educated" feel the same way surely about pickled / jarred beetroot ..

The agricultural population´s wild beetroot is fed to the horses here !


Have a lovely weekend ..

[karadekoolaid Profile]

( I just do not do frozen pastry dough ever .. Not my cup of tea .. )

Neither would I if I had a choice, but since the Idiot came to power, butter has virtually disappeared from the market - unless you´re prepared to pay a bribe, which I steadfastly refuse to do.

[Alexandria Profile]

Karakoolaide,

Butter ? Do you mean that in the London, or the other 3 countries which are part of the U.K., (England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland ) one cannot buy butter in a supermarket to make baked goods ? Or butter croissants ?


Sorry, that is totally insanity !

Is butter available in Hotels in London and Edimburgh ?

They should worry more about Terrorism than about producing butter ..

Idiot is a kind word for this Agricultural Minister or President or whoever this is ..

I am sure there is butter in Queen Isabel´s refrigerator !

[jeral Profile]

Member 461, as you've added to your post, I assume you've thought on it for at least a minute or two, yet it still hasn't crossed your mind that karadekoolaid is not in the UK. He probably thought you knew that as you've been on the board for a while.

Have a good, calmer, evening

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Let us be clear

Karadekoolaid is in Caracas Venezuela

Politically, a bit idiot prone unfortuanately

[Amyw Profile]

Who's Queen Isabel?

[Alexandria Profile]

Sue & Jeral,

Yes, I just realised that Karakoolaide is in Venezuela ..

It is truly a horror scene politically ..

Spain has been providing Asylum & legal residency to thousands of Venezuelans ( political asylum ), Cubans & Dominicans (hurricane victims ) and other former Spanish territory Ibero Americans particularly in the last two years ..


Now, I understand why butter, has become an " oddity basic " over there ..


Thanks for the feedback and have a lovely summer ..

[Pampy Profile]

Beetroot

[jeral Profile]

Who's Queen Isabel?

She's the Knock, knock queen:

Isabel necessary on a bike?

Pampy: Re beetroot, I have a vision of two cows chatting about the day's menu: "Oh no, beetroot on Tuesdays." Then again, cows probably don't suffer hangovers: https://marmiteetponpon.com/2014/03/07/ ... ese-salad/

[karadekoolaid Profile]

Yes, Member 461, I live in the United Soviet Socialist Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Butter is hard to come by, but when it´s about, I buy it. Thus the packet Puff Pastry.
Who´s Queen Isabel?
Why, she´s the wife of Prince Felipe; mother to Carlos, Ana, Andrés and Eduardo and grandmother to Guillermo, Haroldo , Eugenia and Beatriz!

[Renee Profile]

[Alexandria Profile]

Karakoolaide & Renée ..

I meant Queen Elizabeth !

In Spanish, here name is Isabel ..

Was writing very quickly !!!!

Well, all my best and stay safe ..

[Pampy Profile]

Jeral, you've lost me completely!
I don't like goat's cheese and rarely drink either!