Page title and description

Spiced beetroot, dark lentil and ricotta salad
Salads
Spiced beetroot, dark lentil and ricotta salad
Ingredients
- 4 beetroot, skin-on but well scrubbed
- 200ml cider vinegar
- 50g caster sugar
- 4 star anise
- ½ cinnamon stick
- 2 bay leaves
- 15 peppercorns
- 1 orange
- 1 tin dark lentils, drained
- 120g ricotta, goat's or sheep's cheese
- 100g watercress, washed
- handful walnuts, hazelnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped
Method
Prep time:
10 min
PT10M
Cooking time:
1h
PT1H
-
Step 1
Put the beetroot in a small pan with the vinegar, sugar and spices. Remove 2 generous strips of zest from the orange with a veg peeler and add those to the pan, too. Top the pan up with water until the beetroot are just covered and add a pinch of sea salt. Bring to simmer and cook for about 40 minutes or until tender to a knife tip. -
Step 2
Remove the beets, turn up the heat and reduce the liquid furiously until you have a glossy, sweet syrup. Peel the beets and cut into wedges, mix with the lentils and watercress and dress well with the syrup. -
Step 3
Garnish with crumbled cheese and chopped nuts. A little chopped tarragon or parsley works well too.