After years of trying out recipes & visiting the finest dining establishments, I finally ate beets…and liked them.
Before beets became a trendy “super food,” I can remember my mom espousing the nutritional value of this root vegetable. But this was one food I just couldn’t stomach. I mean really, who wants to eat something that tastes like dirt? So I resigned myself to never eating beets. Once I began eating high nutrient foods, the beet challenge reared its head again. This veggie really is worth the effort to get right, with its excellent source of folate, manganese, potassium, copper, fiber, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamin C, iron & vitamin B6. Like I said, “super food.”
The breakthrough came when we tried an appetizer at the Wicked Spoon in Las Vegas, which used stracciatella cheese instead of goat cheese. After eating this, I don’t understand why the goat cheese/beets combo is so prevalent — stracciatella is SOOOOO much better! It can be challenging to find in the store, but if you can get some, I HIGHLY recommend trying it. The best description I can give is that it tastes like fresh mozzarella with a hint of homemade ice cream. And if you’re going to try beets, this is the recipe to start with. Eric was able to find burrata (stracciatella inside mozzarella) & combined it with our favorite herb — lemon basil. Hope you enjoy!
Burrata Beets
1-lb. beets, peeled, scrubbed/rinsed & sliced in 1/4″ pieces (Chioggia, Golden or Red…prefer Golden)
1-T. butter
3-T. white balsamic vinegar (f/Chioggia, Golden) or balsamic vinegar (f/ Red)
1-T. water
2-tsp white or brown sugar (white for Golden/Chioggia; Brown for Red) Beets
1/2-tsp salt
Beet Topping
1/4-C. roasted walnuts, ground
8-oz tub of BelGioioso Burrata Cheese, peeled
4~6 leaves of fresh Basil, chiffonade (If available, lemon Basil is wonderful!)
- Heat oven to 350F; arrange whole shelled walnuts on ungreased baking sheet. Roast walnuts for ~10-min or ’til fragrant. Cool walnuts & pulse in Vitamix or food processor ’til finely ground. Set aside.
- Steam beet slices ’til tender, ~15-20min.
- While beets are steaming, prepare Burrata. Peel each Burrata ball revealing the cream-soaked mozzarella (resembles cottage cheese), place in fridge to chill. The cheese peel can be used as topping for pizza or on fresh slices of tomato.
- When beets are close to tender, heat a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat; While heating combine vinegar, water, salt, sugar in small bowl & set aside. Once skillet is heated, add butter & vinegar mixture.
- When skillet begins to bubble, add the steamed beets & cook, stirring often ’til most of the liquid has evaporated & beets are glazed, 4-5min.
- Place beets & juices from skillet in glass dish & return to fridge to chill.
- Serve beets chilled, topped with Burrata cheese, ground walnuts, & basil
