Author Notes: I love a self indulgent evening. If Ted’s out on boys rib night or playing football you can guarantee that I will be in a long hot bubble bath, face mask on, bottle of Sauvignon, Grazia magazine and watching Clueless on Netflix, total heaven (and probably a total cliché but who cares, you’re the only one there, no one will know). Not obviously that Ted’s company isn’t also total heaven(!) but who doesn’t love (need?) a little bit of me time every now and then?
And I think that should extend to the kitchen too, fancy dishes shouldn’t just be reserved for company, sometimes you should make something a little special just for yourself. This dish is great for that as it’s not actually too difficult or time consuming, it’s essentially just posh cheese on toast. You could scale it down as a dinner party starter but I say make it for yourself! —Jasmine Mills
Serves: 1
Ingredients
-
50
grams pre-prepared beetroot, plus a few extra cubes to serve (I use the pre-made beetroot salad which has been predressed in a balsamic glaze, available in most supermarkets)
-
50
milliliters water
-
1
tablespoon parmesan
-
1
tablespoon walnuts
-
1
tablespoon olive oil
-
1
slice toast, try to get something fruity or nutty, I’ve used hazelnut and fig bread
-
1
generous pinch lambs lettuce
-
1
generous tbsp Buffalo mozzarella, torn into small pieces
-
Drizzle balsamic glaze, available pre-made from most supermarkets
Directions
- To make the warm beetroot base, blitz the beetroot and water together in a mini-chopper for at least a minute until it becomes a rough paste. Transfer into a small saucepan and heat over a high heat to boil away some of the moisture. Leave for about 5 minutes over the heat, stirring regularly.
- To prepare the walnut pesto, blitz the Parmesan in a mini-chopper until crumbed, add the walnuts and olive oil, blitz again until the walnuts are also crumbed.
- To assemble, spoon the warm beetroot mixture into the centre of a large plate, push the toast on top until the beetroot starts to ooze out of the sides from under the toast. Layer the Lambs lettuce, remaining beetroot cubes and mozzarella over the toast. Drizzle with a tbsp of the walnut pesto and a little drizzle of the balsamic glaze.