Roasted Beetroot with Frozen Lemon Nut Butter and Ratatouille

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Great and quite filling lunch or a good side dish to the BBQ. Remember to chop the veggies in very small cubes as this gives a much better and blended taste to the ratatouille! The Frozen Lemon Nut Butter needs to be made a day ahead (the almonds, thus, must be soaked for at least 12 hours before you start the nut butter recipe). This butter is great with many different dishes.

Serves 6

Frozen Lemon Nut Butter:
50 ml soaked, unpeeled almonds
100 ml water

100 ml olive oil
50 ml of the almond/water mix above
50 ml lemon juice
¼ tsp lemon zest
pinch of salt
Dash of chili flakes or ground black pepper (optional)
¼ teaspoon on lecithin (to better emulsify)

1. Combine the almonds and water in a blender, run until a smooth paste.
2. Combine the olive oil, part of the almond/water mix, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and (if you want it spicier) a dash of chili flakes/ground black pepper and, to better stay blended, a pinch of lecithin. Process in blender until smooth.
3. Pour into small ice cube molds (or praline molds) of silicon. Freeze 12 hours (until solid).
4. Why not make your own flavor frozen nut butter with the remaining almond cream? If so, please post you result in the comment section of this recipe!

Roasted Beetroot:
1 large beetroot, peeled and sliced into 6 slices
Save the small end bits for the beetroot oil.
Olive oil and salt.
1. Roast the slices and end bits with some salt and olive oil in 215 C oven for 30-40 minutes

Beetroot oil:
1. Mix the end pieces with some oil in small blender (or handheld mixer). Strain if necessary.

Ratatouille:
2 aubergines (eggplant)
2 beetroot stalks
2 zucchini
1 small fennel bulb
Salt and pepper and lemon juice
Olive oil to fry in

3 tablespoons sunflower seeds
3 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoon sesame seeds

1. Chop the aubergines (eggplant), stalks, zucchinis and bulb into small cubes.
2. Fry a few minutes in a pan with olive oil, season with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
3. Toast the seeds and add to ratatouille.

Decorate the plate with:
1. Paint the beetroot oil on the plate with a brush, add parsley and a few white and black sesame seeds
2. Make a circle with the ratatouille (large ring molds are very helpful here) and serve the frozen butter on top

Lemon infused Carrots and Elderflower infused Beetroots

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Surprise your guest by serving vegetables with a whole new taste to them! First dehydrate your vegetables so that they lose a lot of their moisture, then add a new flavour of moisture by infusing the vegetable for a long time in a chosen liquid. WILL TAKE A COUPLE OF DAYS TO MAKE!

This is such a fun project. You really do need a food dehydrator for this one though. An oven may be used but it will need to stay on low temp for many hours…

I infused the carrots with lemon and the beetroots with elderflower but there are endless possibilities of combinations. A pretty foam and some greens will go nicely with this beautiful dish.

A “sous vide” to cook the vegetables in low temperature is useful for this recipe but not necessary.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Carrots:
12 small and thin carrots
Liquid: 100 ml lemon juice mixed with 200 ml water

1. Wash and scrub the carrots. Then let dry at 45 C for at least 15 hours (depending on the size of your carrot) in your food dehydrator.
2. If cooking in a sous vide: Place your vegetable in a freezer zip lock bag, pour the liquid in, press as much air out as you possibly can (submerge the bag into water up to the top of the bag, that way the air will be pressed out of the bag, then close the bag). Put the bag in the sous vide pan, set it for 60 C and cook for 10 hours. No, the carrots will not get soggy at this low temperature cooking.
3. If cooking in a pan on the stove, let simmer (or just below simmer) in the liquid until almost soft. Then cool and let sit in the juice for another 4-5 hours.

Beetroots:
4 small beetroots
Liquid: 200 ml elderflower syrup and 300 ml water

1. Scrub the beetroot well removing the outer skin. I usually use plastic gloves for this step.
2. Place in a dehydrator 50C for 24 hours. Or in an oven 70 C for 14 hours. Depending on the size of your beetroot.
3. When all shrivelled up it is time to replace the moisture with the elderflower mix.
4. Either place in a bag (as above) and cook in a sous vide 70C for 3 hours, or, simmer on the stove (covered with the liquid) for 60-90 minutes. Take away from the heat and keep in the hot water for another hour. Then keep in the fridge for 3-4 hours.

Now you have “carrolemons” and “elderbeets”. Serve with some greens, an elderflower/beetroot foam and some salt.

Eldeflower/beetroot foam:
150 ml elderflower liquid (that you boiled the beetroots in).
About 1 gram of soy lecithin.

1. Take 150 ml of the elderflower liquid that you boiled the beetroots in.
2. Pour into a shallow dish.
3. Add the soy lecithin.
4. Tilt the dish and, using an immersion blender, whisk air into the mixture. May take a few minutes to get enough foam. Spoon off the resulting foam and let it sit to stabilize a few minutes in a separate bowl.

Spoon the foam onto the dish. Serve immediately (the foam may start to disappear in about 10 minutes).