ROASTED BEET SALAD with RICOTTA SALATA & PISTACHIOS

Description:

ROASTED BEET SALAD with RICOTTA SALATA & PISTACHIOS

Ingredients:

Prepare:

• 4-6 medium sized beets
• Olive oil
• Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 4 ounces ricotta salata (freshly made ricotta cheese)
• 2 tablespoons chopped basil
• 1/4 cup dry-roasted pistachio nuts, coarsely chopped
• juice of 1/2 lemon

How to Serve:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse the beets and pat dry; place in a baking dish. Pour 1/4 inch of water into the pan along with tablespoons of vinegar. Bake for 30-45 minutes, turning once or twice, until the skins become soft enough that they tear upon pressure from your fingers. Remove from the oven; let cool for a few moments, then gently remove the skin. Cut into slices, about 1/4" thick.

Arrange the beet slices on a medium sized platter, alternating red and yellow slices. Drizzle with olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Evenly squeeze one-half lemon over the top. Break up the cheese with a fork until it is the consistency of small chunks; sprinkle over the beets. Top with the toasted pistachios.

Cooking notes: Beets are incredibly delicious, but their juice is a deep, intense color, and can cause stubborn stains. I like to slip on a pair of gloves and an apron when I'm handling beets, or else my hands and clothes risk looking like a crime scene for the next few days.

If you have a couple of beets left over (lucky you!), here are a couple of things you can do with them:

1) Make a warm sandwich on toasted foccaia bread with slices of fresh whole-milk mozzarella cheese. Alternate slices of the cheese with thin slices of roasted beets and drizzle all over with basil oil (infuse extra virgin olive oil with a chiffonade of basil for an hour or so) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Delicious!

2) Make "beet-nut" soup by chopping the beets into cubes and blending them together with toasted pistachios (or hazlenuts) and a few curls of freshly grated nutmeg. Pour the soup into a heavy saucepan and heat with a tablespoon of butter; season with salt and pepper. In a skillet, carmelize a chopped yellow onion in butter, adding a splash of spicy red wine at the end. Ladle the soup into bowls and swirl a tablespoon or so of creme fraiche into each bowl; top with carmelized onion and coarsely chopped nuts. Mmmm.....