I was educated at a convent and the main thing I learnt there, I am ashamed to say, is how to hate beetroot. At almost every meal there was a  bowl of sinister dark red shapes swimming in sharp vinegary liquid, disgusting. Decades later I was persuaded to try some fresh beetroot and I had to concede that it was a lot nicer than the bane of my schooldays, although the shaded flavours of the hated pickled type still permeated through.

Then I saw these glorious golden bulbs in Bridget’s Market in Bridport. I couldn’t resist. I tried them roasted, and I began to see how I might, finally, be able to come to terms with beetroot.

You can make this into a starter by serving the beetroot on a bed of lettuce with a slice of good hearty goats’ cheese.

Waste not, want not. You can also use the leaves and stems. Chop the stems into small pieces and add to fried potatoes, slice the leaves into ribbons and add these too. Squeeze over a little lemon juice.

Recipe for roasting golden beetroot

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 golden beetroots, peeled and sliced
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• Freshly ground white pepper
• Smoked salt
• 1 tbsp/juice and zest and diced flesh of ½ a lime
• Generous tsp of honey
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 clove of black garlic, roughly chopped (alright… normal garlic if you can’t find the wonderful black)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 210ºC.
2. Line a roasting tin with foil, and oil it.
3. Spread the diced beetroot out and glug over the olive oil, honey, and the lime juice.
4. Sprinkle with the salt and grind over the pepper.
5. Roast for 25 minutes, pour over a glug of balsamic vinegar and the black garlic, and, if it’s not tender, return to the oven for another five minutes.

This post is dedicated to Robin Eggar.