How is it that when I let Ursula Heinzelmann inspire me for our recipe of the week, it always comes down to something baked? ... Last time there was a Romanesco tart with blue cheese - this time a beetroot tart tatin in a freestyle version with Piedmont hazelnuts, olives and two kinds of cheese. Maybe something in her recipes will bring out the baker in me?
Anyway ... Ursula was in our shop recently for a photo shoot and that encouraged me to leaf through her wonderful book "Erlebnis Essen" again, from which the recipe for the other tart comes . I nibbled a few of our heavenly hazelnuts from Piedmont and then very quickly stumbled across the recipe for the beetroot tart tatin. A combination of these two great ingredients immediately took shape in my head: beetroot and hazelnuts, that fits perfectly! Because I wanted a spicy hard cheese to go with the nuts, Parmesan and Pecorino Fiore Sardo were quickly added. This Sardinian hard cheese made from raw sheep's milk is very intense and has fine smoky notes. Classically, it goes very well with Membrillo, this quince pulp that you may already know from our shop or from your holiday in Spain. There it is eaten with the manchego. And if our Pecorino goes well with the Membrillo, I thought to myself, it should also work great with beetroot. It's also one of my favorite cheeses at the moment. As the last ingredient I chose Nyons olives. These dry pickled black, slightly wrinkled olives give every dish a very special touch. For example, put some in your ratatouille, in a tomato sauce, in a cucumber, tomato and watermelon salad...
How inspiring it can be when cooking (or baking) - you just have to gather all your favorite ingredients ... and you're good to go!
Ingredients (for 3 - 4 people as a side dish):
- 40g butter
- 2-3 scoops of beetroot
- 1 generous handful of hazelnuts
- about 10 Nyons olives
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (I used Forum Merlot Vinegar )
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- 200g puff pastry
Preparation:
Generously grease a round tart tin, approx. 23cm in diameter, with butter. Halve the beetroot, cut into thin slices and lay them out in a circle overlapping them. In the original recipe, the mold is to be lined with two layers of beetroot - for my version, I decided to replace the second layer with hazelnuts and olives.
Cut the hazelnuts in half and the olives as well. Remove the stone (this is relatively easy with Nyons olives and you don't need a stoner, just a simple sharp knife). Then spread the nuts and olives over the beets.
Season generously with sea salt and freshly ground pepper, add one to one and a half tablespoons of the balsamic vinegar and spread 20g of butter in flakes on top.
Roll out the puff pastry into a circle about 2cm larger than the tin, place on the tin and carefully push the protruding edge between the rim of the tin and the beetroot.
Prick the dough several times with a fork and chill the tart for at least 30 minutes.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let set for 5 minutes...
... only then put a round tray over it and topple it with a quick movement.
It already looks great and would certainly taste fantastic on its own, but I was curious about the combination with the cheese. Roughly chop or crumble the Fiore Sardo and/or Parmesan and pour over the tart. To finish, sprinkle some fresh herbs on top. I chose dill and cilantro because I generally find the combination of beetroot and cilantro unbeatable.
Our conclusion: the tart is a surprise bag of aromas - the beetroot makes it mild and earthy-aromatic, the vinegar adds a sweetish acidity. The nuts, for their part, underline the mild note of the tart and bring a nice crunchy change, while the olives give the tart the necessary heartiness with their aromatic Mediterranean flavor... The intensive cheese and the fresh herbs round off the bouquet and bring out all the aromas To shine.
A green salad with a vinaigrette made from the same vinegar tastes great with this. Bon Appetit!
Our wine recommendations: the Château Argadens Blanc AOC Bordeaux Supérieur is a fresh, white Bordeaux with a powerful nose with notes of mango and pineapple enhanced by woody oak and vanilla notes. In the mouth, this wine is balanced, full-bodied, supple and pleasantly fresh. Typical Sauvignon. A very round wine with a strong character and a long, fresh finish.
Alternatively, we recommend the Pouilly-Fumé 2015 "Les Angelots" with aromas of white flowers and citrus fruits and a high level of minerality, which goes perfectly with the mild, earthy taste of the beetroot.
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The original recipe comes from © Ursula Heinzelmann and can be found in her book "Eating Experience: From the scent of strawberries and the flavor of Teltower Rübchen" , which was published in 2006 by Fischer Scherz Verlag.
