PrintDinner Tonight: Roasted Beet Bruschetta
The world probably wasn't clamoring for yet another roasted beet recipe. But this one is stellar. It's a great alternative to the standard tomato-based bruschetta—and almost as easy. Plus, it lasts longer. My fiancée and I made a huge batch of this and ate it happily for three straight days. I'll repeat that: We ate beets for three days. Who should we thank for such a sublime appetizer?
Of course it was Batali. Who knew beets could be such a delicacy? This one has a few more ingredients than this column likes to use. But like everything else I've made from Mario, all the ingredients feel crucially important. I can't imagine cutting any component.
Roasted Beet and Parmigiano Bruschetta
- serves 4 -
Adapted from the Babbo Cookbook.
Ingredients
1 pound beets
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon fresh chives
8 slices of crusty bread
Parmigiano-Reggiano
Salt and pepper
Procedure
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Wrap the whole beets in aluminum foil and place in the oven for 45 minutes. When done, remove the skins, and cut into 1/4 cubes.
2. Preheat the broiler. Combine the beets, vinegar, oil, caraway seeds, chives, salt, and pepper.
3. Toast the bread in the broiler until done to your liking. Spoon the beet mixture atop the bread. Shave Parmigiano over beet mixture, and serve.
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7 Comments:
Can parchment paper be used instead of tin foil? I am trying to eliminate the use of aluminum in my kitchen as much as possible (plastic too).
seyo at 5:53PM on 08/31/07
Seyo: Unless Nick weighs in here, I'd guess that parchment would seem to work just fine, as long as you folded it over itself enough to get a good seal when cooking it en papillote. Here's something from the L.A. Times on cooking in parchment. Hope that helps! Even if it doesn't work, you're out, what, a couple of beets?
Adam Kuban at 6:01PM on 08/31/07
Nick, I think you left the part out where you shave the cheese over the beets, yes?
klg19 at 6:38PM on 08/31/07
Good catch, klg. I just fixed it for Nick—should now be reflected in Step 3. Thanks!
Adam Kuban at 6:55PM on 08/31/07
Thanks for the link! I cook fish in paper, it's the best, but I wasnt sure about beets etc, because when I do fish it's only for 10 -15 minutes @ 425. Very good to know, thanks again.
seyo at 10:44PM on 08/31/07
"Fahrenheit 451: The temperature at which books burn." I'm always grateful to Ray Bradbury for that mnemonic device when using parchment paper. I suppose if you're going close to 451°, you'd want to use an in-oven thermometer to make sure your oven's thermostat is properly calibrated.
Adam Kuban at 10:58PM on 08/31/07
haha, thats funny, me too. the first time i did fish in paper, i was using mark bittman's Fish cookbook. he said to cook at 450 for about 10 - 15 minutes, which i did. when i pulled the wrap out, it was still white where the food was but the edges were turning brown, on the verge of burning. thats when the "paper burns at 451F" thing came into my head. ever since then i do it at 425 just to be safe, and leave it in a little longer, which works fine. i will definitely try this, not just to make beet salad for bruschetta, but also for beet pasta.
seyo at 2:28PM on 09/01/07