- 500g thick, full-fat Greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
- 2 tbsp finely chopped mint
- 2 tbsp finely chopped chives
- ½ lemon, zested
- ½ tsp flaky sea salt
- 200g caster sugar
- 200ml Aspall cyder vinegar
- 300g whole, raw beetroots
- 60g shelled pistachios, chopped
- baby pea shoots or salad leaves (or micro-herbs if you can get them), to serve
Pickled Beetroot with Labneh and Pistachios
A RECIPE BY KATHY SLACK
Serves: 4 as a starter
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Prep time: overnight
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Cooking time: 50 minutes
There’s something magical about pickling vegetables. Not the laborious pickling that requires you to turn the kitchen into a laboratory, although that’s a form of alchemy in itself. No, I mean just a quick pickle, the work of no more than 5 minutes, like the one here. A brew of sugar and vinegar in equal amounts has a transformative effect on vegetables. It is a witchcraft that makes everything from cucumber to carrots, radishes to rhubarb supple but still crunchy. It preserves too – these beetroot pickles will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple of weeks.
Extracted from From The Veg Patch by Kathy Slack (Ebury Press, £25).
Photography by Kathy Slack.
- 500g thick, full-fat Greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
- 2 tbsp finely chopped mint
- 2 tbsp finely chopped chives
- ½ lemon, zested
- ½ tsp flaky sea salt
- 200g caster sugar
- 200ml Aspall cyder vinegar
- 300g whole, raw beetroots
- 60g shelled pistachios, chopped
- baby pea shoots or salad leaves (or micro-herbs if you can get them), to serve
- Gently spoon the yogurt into a fine sieve set over a bowl, spreading it out so it covers the whole sieve. Leave to drip in the fridge for at least 4 hours, but overnight is better.
- Transfer the strained yogurt to a bowl. Mix in the chopped herbs, lemon zest and salt. Set aside in the fridge to let the flavours mingle.
- Meanwhile, for the beetroot, dissolve the sugar in the vinegar in a small pan over a low heat. Pour into a wide, shallow, heatproof container and leave to cool.
- Peel the beetroots, then halve and slice very finely into wafer-thin half-moons. If you have one, a mandolin is perfe for this, though risky. A vegetable peeler will do the job too, and is more likely to spare your fingers, but won’t be so neat. Once the pickling liquor has cooled, add the beetroot slivers and toss to coat. Steep for 20 minutes.
- To serve, spread the labneh over a platter. Drain the pickled beetroot and shake off any excess liquid. Pile it on top of the labneh, then scatter over the pistachios. Finish with some baby pea shoots or salad leaves, or micro-herbs if you can get them. The beetroot juice will bleed into the labneh, so serve straight away for the prettiest effect, with crusty bread for mopping up.
ingredients
method
- Gently spoon the yogurt into a fine sieve set over a bowl, spreading it out so it covers the whole sieve. Leave to drip in the fridge for at least 4 hours, but overnight is better.
- Transfer the strained yogurt to a bowl. Mix in the chopped herbs, lemon zest and salt. Set aside in the fridge to let the flavours mingle.
- Meanwhile, for the beetroot, dissolve the sugar in the vinegar in a small pan over a low heat. Pour into a wide, shallow, heatproof container and leave to cool.
- Peel the beetroots, then halve and slice very finely into wafer-thin half-moons. If you have one, a mandolin is perfe for this, though risky. A vegetable peeler will do the job too, and is more likely to spare your fingers, but won’t be so neat. Once the pickling liquor has cooled, add the beetroot slivers and toss to coat. Steep for 20 minutes.
- To serve, spread the labneh over a platter. Drain the pickled beetroot and shake off any excess liquid. Pile it on top of the labneh, then scatter over the pistachios. Finish with some baby pea shoots or salad leaves, or micro-herbs if you can get them. The beetroot juice will bleed into the labneh, so serve straight away for the prettiest effect, with crusty bread for mopping up.
