Stuffed beetroot

These little beetroot halves filled with stuffing and topped with mayonnaise or sour-cream and chopped herbs look very pretty and are great for buffet-style parties. They can be made up well in advance and just taste better given some time for the flavours to mingle. The only drawback is the possibility of a drunk person dropping one on your carpet and I admit, that would be a serious drawback.

If you're willing to risk it, it's an easy recipe and doesn't take much time once the beetroots have been boiled and cooled (click here for tips on how to do that). As in several other recipes concocted around the time of this one, I mention balsamic vinegar, and probably will continue doing so sporadically until the bottle is finished. I bought it in Europe in the summer and I've been experimenting with it since. This is one recipe where I have to say, it does make a difference. The taste goes really well with beetroot. On the other hand, balsamic vinegar is expensive stuff and I wouldn't suggest you run out and buy a bottle just for this recipe. Wine or cider vinegar will do just as well.

Ingredients

5 cooked and peeled beetroots
1 carrot
1 tomato
1 onion
1 sweet red pepper
2 or 3 cloves of garlic
1 small handful of raisins or sultanas
I small handful of nuts (e.g. walnuts, peanuts, pine nuts or cashews)
A splash of balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Salt

Cut the beetroots in half and scoop out the halves to make little cups. I started doing this with a teaspoon but moved on to a vegetable corer, which I found more satisfactory. Save the stuff you scoop out. You'll need it later for the stuffing.

Chop the onion, carrot and pepper finely and fry them gently in olive oil for about ten minutes. Add the chopped tomato and fry for another few minutes before removing from the heat. Mix the fried vegetables with the chopped raisins, nuts and garlic. Chop up the beetroot scoopings and mix them in too. Add salt and vinegar to taste, then spoon the stuffing into the beetroot halves. Before serving put a little blob of mayonnaise, yoghurt or sour cream on top of each one and sprinkle over some chopped parsley or chives.

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