Roast Beetroot Salad

This delicious salad of sweet roasted beetroot and fresh, tangy goat’s cheese is from Neil Perry’s new book, Good Food (Murdoch, $54.95). At Rockpool, his internationally acclaimed restaurant in Sydney’s Rocks, Neil Perry is a master of intricate, highly refined food. But his cookbooks show a more domestic side, with plenty of simple, boldly flavoured dishes. This one, which serves four, is great as a starter and Neil suggests adding a few thin slices of raw beetroot marinated in red wine and olive oil to give a textural contrast between the cooked and raw beets.

Subhead: You will need:

4 beetroot, washed

extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

2 baby cos lettuce, washed and dried

50g walnuts, roasted and broken into rough pieces

250g fresh goat’s curd cheese*

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lay a square of foil on your work surface large enough to wrap the beetroot in. Place the beetroot in the centre of the foil and drizzle with a little oil, a tablespoon of the red wine vinegar, a little sea salt and 2 tablespoons of water. Wrap up tightly, place the parcel on an oven tray and roast for about 1 hour, or until tender. You can check the tenderness of the beetroot by inserting a knife or skewer into the centre of each.

Remove the beetroot from the oven and set aside to cool slightly. When the beetroot is cool enough to handle, rub all the skin off (it is a good idea to wear rubber gloves to avoid staining your hands); this should happen easily. Quarter each beetroot lengthways. Place in a bowl and drizzle with oil and a little more of the red wine vinegar, season with sea salt and give a liberal grind of fresh pepper.

Arrange the lettuce over four large plates, place four pieces of beetroot on each plate and sprinkle the walnuts over. Place a few dollops of goat’s curd in the centre of each salad and drizzle with some more oil and red wine vinegar. Sprinkle with sea salt and give a good grind of fresh pepper. Serve.

*Fresh goat’s curd is just super-fresh goat’s cheese. Use the freshest cheese you can find.