A recipe by chef Matej Petrik (EliaOLIVA), created for Biolea.
Five ingredients and almost no technique. The beetroot is roasted whole in foil with cumin and anise until it gives easily to a fork, then sliced paper-thin like carpaccio. Salty feta and walnuts against sweet beetroot, and on top of that a few drops of Neratzi – olive oil pressed with bitter oranges. The orange note is what turns a simple salad into a starter.
Ingredients
- 4–5 medium beetroots
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds and anise seeds, mixed
- about 100 g (¾ cup) feta, crumbled
- about 50 g (½ cup) walnuts, chopped (other nuts work too)
- Biolea Neratzi olive oil
- sea salt, black pepper
Method
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Scrub the beetroots, leave the skins on and wrap each one in foil with a pinch of the cumin and anise seeds.
- Roast for about an hour, depending on size, until a fork goes in without resistance. Leave to cool in the foil.
- Peel – the skins slip off easily – and slice as thinly as you can, ideally on a mandoline. Arrange the slices on plates, overlapping, carpaccio style.
- Scatter over the crumbled feta and the walnuts. Season lightly with salt and pepper – feta is salty already.
- Drizzle generously with Neratzi olive oil just before serving.
Serve at room temperature. The beetroot can be roasted a day ahead and kept in the fridge.
Which olive oil?
Biolea Neratzi – extra virgin olive oil stone-milled together with bitter oranges. Not flavoured afterwards, but pressed with the fruit. Use it raw: beetroot, cheese, chocolate desserts, cakes.
Recipe: Matej Petrik for Biolea Astrikas Estate. Photos: Biolea. Published with the producer's permission.