Beetroot and walnut dip

Method

1. Wrap the beetroot in foil, whole and unpeeled, and roast at 200°C for about an hour, until a knife goes in easily.
2. Rub the skins off under cold water while they are still warm. They slip away with almost no effort.
3. Toast the walnuts and cool them completely.
4. Blend everything to a coarse purée, keeping a little texture from the nuts.
5. Rest an hour, taste again for salt and vinegar, and finish with oil, walnuts and something white on top.

Notes

• Roast, do not boil. Boiling pulls the colour and sugar out into the water. Roasting drives moisture off and concentrates both, and the difference in the finished dip is enormous.
• It needs more acid than you expect. Beetroot is one of the sweetest vegetables there is, and without the vinegar the dip is cloying.
• Walnuts do two jobs. They thicken it and their slight bitterness balances the sugar, which is the same trick the Georgians use in pkhali.
• The colour stains everything, including hands, boards and tea towels. Do the peeling under running water.
• It keeps 5 days and the colour deepens rather than fading.

Ingredient substitutions

• Vacuum-packed cooked beetroot saves the hour and is a reasonable compromise, though it is usually boiled and slightly vinegared already, so hold back some of the vinegar and taste first.
• For a vegan version, tahini in place of the yogurt at about half the weight works well and pushes it towards the Levantine end of the family.

Sources consulted

• Serious Eats: roasted beet and walnut dip

Good with

• Muhammara
• Soft Greek pita: pocketless and stovetop-cooked
• Whipped feta

From Christoph Mayer

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