Heritage beetroot with buttermilk, horseradish and bronze fennel
- Starter
- Medium
- 8
- 1 hour 30 minutes, plus overnight freezing and infusing time
PT1H30M
A savoury beetroot ice cream is served with baked heritage beetroot, punchy horseradish cream and a sourdough crumb in this almost psychedelically colourful dish. This makes a great vegetarian dinner party starter as nearly all the elements need to be prepared in advance, then can simply be plated up when ready to serve. Freeze any leftover lovage oil to retain its bright green colour.
Ingredients
Beetroot discs
- 3 large beetroots , ideally heritage varieties in a mixture of colours
- 2 garlic cloves , halved
- 3 sprigs of thyme
- 45g of salt
- 45g of sugar
- 45g of vegetable oil
Beetroot ice cream
Horseradish infused buttermilk
- 200ml of buttermilk
- 30g of fresh horseradish
- 2g of salt
Lovage oil
- 50g of fresh lovage , leaves only
- 100ml of vegetable oil
Sourdough crumb
- 200g of sourdough breadcrumbs
- 50g of butter
To serve
Equipment
- 3.5cm round cutter
- Ice cream maker
- Thermomix or blender
- Thermometer
- Muslin cloth
Method
You will need to start the day before to give the ice cream time to freeze – but you can also prepare the beetroot discs, buttermilk and lovage oil in advance as well. Begin by roasting the beetroot, as you need this to make the ice cream. Preheat an oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4
Place each beetroot on a separate piece of tin foil (so the colours don’t bleed) with ½ a garlic clove, a sprig of thyme, 15g salt, 15g of vegetable oil and 15g sugar in each parcel. Wrap up tightly then bake in the oven for around 45 minutes, or until just soft
- 3 large beetroots , ideally heritage varieties in a mixture of colours
- 2 garlic cloves , halved
- 3 sprigs of thyme
- 45g of salt
- 45g of sugar
- 45g of vegetable oil
Leave the beetroot to cool slightly, then peel whilst still warm. Cut each beetroot into 3mm slices then use a 3.5cm round cutter to create 24 small discs from each beetroot (so 72 in total). Reserve all the leftover beetroot for the ice cream. Place the beetroot discs in a container and reserve in the fridge
To make the ice cream, place the egg yolk, sugar, milk and cream into a Thermomix and set at 80ºC – when it reaches 80ºC add the beetroot trimmings and salt and blitz until smooth. Alternatively, heat in a pan with a thermometer to 80°C, transfer to a blender with the trimmings and salt, blitz until smooth then pass through a fine sieve. Transfer to an ice cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. Reserve in the fridge until needed
You can also infuse the buttermilk a day before too. Pour the buttermilk into a bowl and finely grate the horseradish into it. Add the salt and leave to infuse for at least 2 hours in the fridge, or overnight
- 200ml of buttermilk
- 30g of fresh horseradish
- 2g of salt
To make the lovage oil, blanch the lovage leaves in boiling water for 1 minute, then refresh in iced water. Squeeze out as much water as possible, then place in a blender with the oil and blend on full speed for 6 minutes. Line a sieve with a piece of muslin cloth (or a j-cloth), set it over a bowl, then pour the oil into it. Place in the fridge and leave to strain – this will take a few hours, so it's best done the day before too
- 50g of fresh lovage , leaves only
- 100ml of vegetable oil
On the day you plan to serve, make the sourdough crumble. Melt the butter in a pan and fry the breadcrumbs until crisp and golden in the foaming butter. Drain on kitchen paper and season with a pinch of salt
- 200g of sourdough breadcrumbs
- 50g of butter
To plate, arrange the beetroot discs (3 of each colour per plate) in a circle, alternating the colours until they almost rejoin. Place a spoonful of the crispy breadcrumbs in the gap for the ice cream to sit on. Spoon 25ml of the buttermilk into the centre and split with some of the lovage oil, then add a rocher of the ice cream and top with a few sprigs of bronze fennel
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Heritage beetroot with buttermilk, horseradish and bronze fennel
