roast beetroot with pistachios and dukkah

So while I’m on a tangent about cooking vegetables in new and improved ways, like with the carrots, I tested out a new way with beetroot. One of my all-time favourite vegetables, I love them roasted the most. This method however takes too long and by the time they are adequately cooked through to my liking they have become shriveled up and the texture starts becoming leathery. Still delicious, but I want my roasted beetroot to have a lovely soft texture and still hold moisture.

I can’t remember where exactly I read about this, or perhaps I saw it on Twitter, someone mentioned microwaving their beetroot before roasting them. So this is what I did.

I took a bunch of beetroot (beets if you live in other parts of the world), about 6, peeled and trimmed them. I then cut them all into roughly the same size pieces, so in quarters for the smaller ones and in eighths for the bigger ones, and put them in a microwave bowl or large ceramic bowl. Added about 1/2 cup of water to the dish, covered and microwaved them on high for 5 minutes. You would adjust the timing according to quantity, but I feel that if you are going to go to the trouble of turning your oven on to roast them, you should at least fill  the tray. Cold roast beetroot are fantastic in salads, and with crumbled feta or goats cheese, make a lovely wrap or pita filling.

Of course you would have pre heated your oven to 180C. You could also go with 200C. I roast my veggies on either. Drain the beetroot when out the microwave and toss in a light coating of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, and if you have a few sprigs of thyme lying around, you could toss those in the tray too. Roast for about 34 – 40 minutes until cooked through.

I love to sprinkle dukkah and roughly chopped pistachio nuts over making this is superb and utterly impressive vegetable side dish to any meat.

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