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Burrata and roast root salad
Serves 4 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 150g Puy lentils
- 200g fregola or giant couscous
- olive oil, for drizzling
- 2 large beetroot, scrubbed
- 300g organic carrots, scrubbed and halved lengthways
- 100g parsnips, scrubbed and halved lengthways
- 4 banana shallots, peeled and halved lengthways
- 4 slices preserved orange or zest 1 orange
- 1tsp cumin seeds
- 1tsp coriander seeds
- pinch dried chilli flakes
- 1tbsp honey or maple syrup
- leaves from 3 heads red chicory
- 2 large burrata
For the pickled beetroot
- 100ml cider vinegar
- 5g sea salt
- 30g caster sugar
- 1⁄2tsp fennel seeds
- 1⁄2tsp mustard seeds
- 1⁄2tsp coriander seeds
- 1⁄2 cinnamon stick
- 2 candy-striped beetroots, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1⁄2 red chilli, thinly sliced (optional)
For the walnut salsa
- 50g walnuts
- 40g canned anchovy fillets
- 1tbsp rose harissa
- 1tbsp flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 1tbsp coriander leaves
- 1tbsp orange juice
- 1tbsp lemon juice
- 100ml olive oil
Method
Cook the lentils in salted water, according to the packet instructions, and the fregola separately (also in salted water) until al dente, drain both and transfer to a bowl. Pour in 1tsp olive oil and fork it through so that they don’t stick together.
To pickle the beetroot, combine the vinegar, 100ml water, salt, sugar and spices (except the chilli) in a non-reactive pan and bring to the boil. Place the beetroot slices and chilli (if using) in a clean heatproof jar or jug and pour over the pickling liquor. Leave to steep.
Preheat the oven to 200C/ 180C Fan/Gas 6. Take a piece of foil big enough to wrap the beetroot and place the whole beetroot on it. Drizzle with a little olive oil and season. Wrap the beetroot in the foil, leaving a little air between them, and place on a baking tray. In a roasting tray, combine the carrots, parsnips, shallots and preserved orange or zest, pour over a little olive oil to coat, then scatter over the spices and drizzle over the honey or maple syrup. Season well with salt, give everything a good toss, then put that tray and the foiled beetroot tray in the oven, with the beetroot tray on the top rack.
Check the parsnips and carrots after 35 minutes. They should be browned and tender with crispy edges but not dry, while the shallots should be nicely caramelised. When done, remove the tray from the oven. Roast the beetroots for 1 hour in total, until they are tender all the way through (use a skewer to check). Remove from the oven and leave until cool enough to handle, then use kitchen paper or the back of a spoon to peel away the skin, and slice them into wedges.
To make the salsa, blitz the walnuts in a food processor briefly until coarsely chopped, then add the anchovies, harissa and herbs and blitz again to combine. Add the orange juice, lemon juice and the olive oil. Blitz again, then taste and season with salt to taste.
To assemble the salad, add the chicory to the bowl of lentils and fregola, season with salt and pepper and add a splash of the beetroot pickling liquor and a little olive oil. Toss to coat, then arrange on a sharing platter. Top with the roast beetroots, carrots, shallots, parsnips and burrata, then dress with the salsa. Drain the beetroot from the pickling juice (reserving the juice for another use). Scatter over the pickled beetroot and serve with extra salsa on the side.
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