Yield: 6 Servings
Description:
Roasted Beet Salad with Blue Cheese Cream and Pistachio Vinaigrette
You may think you’ve had every beet salad, but this one is different. First, roasting the beets in white wine gives them another layer of flavor; second, a blue cheese cream and an outstanding creamy pistachio vinaigrette let you come back to the beet salad without the slightest chance of boredom.
I think this vinaigrette is possibly the best dressing I’ve ever tasted anywhere. You can use it on many different salads.
Roast the beets the morning you plan to make this, and make the blue cheese cream and pistachio vinaigrette the day before, if you like. If the vinaigrette separates overnight in the refrigerator, use an immersion blender or standard blender to bring it back together just before serving.
Ingredients:
6 golden beets, about 1 1/2 pounds
1/2 shallot, minced (for Creamy Pistachio Vinaigrette)
6 Chioggia beets, about 1 1/2 pounds
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme (for Creamy Pistachio Vinaigrette)
3/4 cup olive oil
2 egg yolks, plus 1 more if needed (for Creamy Pistachio Vinaigrette)
1 cup dry white wine, plus more if needed
1 cup pistachio oil (for Creamy Pistachio Vinaigrette)
2 teaspoons sea salt, preferably gray salt
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil (for Creamy Pistachio Vinaigrette)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, preferably gray salt (for Creamy Pistachio Vinaigrette)
4 ounces mascarpone cheese at room temperature (for Blue Cheese Cream)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (for Creamy Pistachio Vinaigrette)
4 ounces blue cheese at room temperature (for Blue Cheese Cream)
1/3 cup pistachios, toasted (for Creamy Pistachio Vinaigrette)
1/4 cup heavy cream (for Blue Cheese Cream)
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley for garnish (for Creamy Pistachio Vinaigrette)
Pinch of sea salt, preferably gray salt (for Blue Cheese Cream)
1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon for garnish (for Creamy Pistachio Vinaigrette)
Light grind of black pepper (for Blue Cheese Cream)
Microgreens such as micro arugula for garnish (optional) (for Creamy Pistachio Vinaigrette)
1/4 cup Champagne vinegar (for Creamy Pistachio Vinaigrette)
1 tablespoon Champagne vinegar for drizzling (for Creamy Pistachio Vinaigrette)
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (for Creamy Pistachio Vinaigrette)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling (for Creamy Pistachio Vinaigrette)
Directions:
1. For the beets: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Wash the beets, cut off their tops and tails and put them in a roasting pan. Pour the olive oil over the beets and then pour enough white wine so at least half of each beet is under wine. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and roast for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a knife blade slips into a beet easily. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool to the touch. Slip the peels from the beets. When ready to serve, slice the beets into 1 ½-inch chunks. (The chunks don’t have to be uniform for this salad.)
2. For the blue cheese cream: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cheeses and beat on low speed until blended. Add the cream, salt, and pepper and beat on medium speed until smooth.
3. For the pistachio vinaigrette: In a blender, whir together the vinegar, mustard, shallot, thyme, and egg yolks until smooth. With the machine running, add the pistachio oil and then the olive oil 1 tablespoon at a time. If the mixture gets too thick, add 1 tablespoon ice water. You may want to stop if your blender gets warm because you don’t want your emulsion heated. (If the emulsion breaks, it’s easy to fix: scrape the vinaigrette out of the blender and set it aside. Cool the blender container in cold water, add another egg yolk and a couple of ice cubes, and then gradually add the broken vinaigrette back to the blender with the machine running.) Season with salt and pepper.
4. Chill the salad plates and spoon the vinaigrette into a squeeze bottle or a pastry bag fitted with a small plain tip. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the blue cheese cream onto a chilled plate. Mound the beet chunks on top the cream in an even mix of golden and Chioggia. Squeeze a circle of the vinaigrette around the periphery of the salad. Toss about a dozen roasted pistachios over the salad, very lightly sprinkle on the parsley and tarragon, and finish with a small mound of micro greens on the top if you like. Repeat for the other 5 salads.
Restaurant: Bottega
Owner/Chef: Michael Chiarello
Source: http://www.ivillage.com/roasted-beet-salad-blue-cheese-cream-and-pistachio-vinaigrette/3-r-335432
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