HAVE you ever cooked beetroot? Most people only know it bottled in vinegar and to be brought out with the pickled onions, gherkins and chutneys. But beetroot is more versatile than many other root vegetables and is great roasted as in this recipe.

Before roasting, the beetroot needs boiling for anything between 30 and 90 minutes until tender. You can tell when it’s cooked by piercing with a skewer. However, before boiling, just brush off any soil and wash the skin and any top and root without damaging the skin. This preserves the colour and goodness inside. And, regarding the colour, you may wish to wear rubber gloves when skinning and cutting it up so as to avoid red hands.

INGREDIENTS
Serves two

Two 175g fillets of salmon – skin on, scaled and pin boned
Eight smallish new potatoes
Two medium raw beetroot
One clove of garlic – peeled and crushed
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper
A little rapeseed or extra virgin olive oil

METHOD

Place the washed beetroot in a pan in salted water, bring to the boil and simmer until tender as described earlier. At the same time, boil the potatoes for around 15 minutes until tender but not fully cooked. When cooked, allow the beetroot and potatoes to cool a little before halving the potatoes lengthwise.

To peel the beetroot, rub the skin off with a clean tea towel which lets you keep the original shape rather than using a knife which means you end up with a 50 pence piece shape. Cut two thirds of the beetroot into wedges and reserve the other third.

Pre-heat the oven to 200C (gas 6). Pre-heat a large oven-proof frying pan, add a little oil and then the salmon, skin side down. While that’s cooking, add the potatoes, cut side down. As the salmon cooks you’ll you see its colour change, rising up the fish from the base of the pan. When it gets about a third of the way up, about five minutes, turn the salmon over by which time the skin should be crispy. Add the beetroot wedges to the pan, season everything with a little salt and pepper and place in the oven for five minutes.

While that’s roasting, puree the rest of the beetroot or push it through a sieve into a bowl. Add the garlic, a little salt and pepper and enough olive oil to make a paste when all mixed together.

To serve, pile the beetroot and potatoes onto warm plates, place the salmon on top and some beetroot puree on top of that. Maybe finish with a little oil over and around.

Oldfields Pantry ready meals are available direct from the restaurant on Claypath in Durham on 0191 370 9595 or go to www.oldfieldspantry.co.uk for delivery by mail order.

Twitter: @eatoldfields
For further recipes, go to www.billoldfield.com