These beetroot tops sautéed with garlic & fennel are so delicious if you can get your hands on farm-fresh beetroot with crisp leaves.
I had never cooked the tops of beetroot before and when I received a bunch of freshly harvested beetroot from Terra Madre in Elgin just before the lockdown, I simply could not ignore them. I adore beetroot and have cooked a plethora of recipes with them over the years and figured the tops would be an extension of beetroot flavour-wise. They are related to Swiss chard and spinach (the Chenopodiaceae family) so they are all good. I just freestyled it in my kitchen adding what I thought would work and the result was a bowl of utter deliciousness. I stirred this through steamed brown basmati rice and a few mushrooms sautéed in butter adding parmesan cheese at the end to finish it off.
I wouldn’t attempt to make this dish unless the beetroot tops were extremely fresh. It’s also not going to win any beauty competitions but it is what it is. I am so happy to share it as I really hate food waste.
To order produce from Terra Madre during the lockdown, visit their website to see what is available from week to week.
Recipe – serves 2 as a side
PrintDelicious beetroot tops sautéed with garlic & fennel
A super easy and delicuous way to prepare fresh beetroot (beet) tops to eat as a side dish or on their own. These can be added to an omlette or frittata too.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 8-10 mins
- Total Time: 15
- Yield: 2
- Category: vegetarian, side
- Method: saute
Ingredients
- 1 bunch of very fresh beetroot tops, washed and the thick stalks cut away from the leaves
- Chop the stems quite finely and then cup up the leaves into thin ribbons
- Olive oil for frying
- 1 shallot finely chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic crushed
- ½ – 1 tsp fennel seeds
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- Soy sauce to season
- Juice of ¼ – ½ lemon
- Salt and pepper
- Parmesan cheese to serve
Instructions
- Heat a generous glug of olive oil in a large non-stick pan and sauté the shallots until soft. About 4 minutes. Add the chopped beetroot leaf stems, fennel seeds and cumin and fry for a further 2 – 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook this for about a minute.
- Add the shredded beetroot leaves and stir through to wilt. Add about a ¼ cup of water and cover the pan with a lid or a baking tray in order to stem the leaves. Season with soy sauce and lemon juice keep tossing in the pan. Adjust seasoning with salt & pepper and when most of the liquid has cooked off, serve with grated Parmesan cheese.
Keywords: Beetroot tops, sauteed
More delicious beetroot recipes:
The best roast beetroot hummus
Roast beetroot & onion galette with shaved goats cheese Pecorino
Beetroot falafel on toasted pita
Roast beetroot with pistachios & dukkah
Beetroot & carrot cake with caramel cream cheese frosting
Roasted beetroot & onion tart tartin with balsamic, caramel & thyme
Apple, beetroot & ginger juice
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