Beetroot and Toasted Peanut Salad by Carina Contini of Contini Restaurants in Edinburgh
People think of tomatoes as an Italian ingredient but they have a rich Scottish heritage, especially in the Clyde Valley. New-season home-grown tomatoes have a lovely green, slightly acidic flavour and a crisp texture and should be ready at the same time as the first new-season beetroot. Added to the sharpness of the Dunlop and the crunch of the toasted, honeyed peanuts, this is a really tasty, mouthwatering salad, worth waiting for.
CARINA CONTINI is one of Scotland’s best-known female chefs, and runs three Edinburgh restaurants with her husband Victor. They are Contini George Street, Cannonball Restaurant & Bar, and the Scottish Cafe at the Scottish National Gallery.
She is also the author of Carina Contini’s Kitchen Garden Cookbook: A Year Of Scots Italian Recipes.
Ingredients: Serves 4
50g unsalted peanuts
salt
1 generous tsp heather honey
50g rocket leaves
2 purple beetroots, cooked and cut into quarters
150g new-season slightly under-ripe tomatoes
125g Dunlop or similar mature cow’s milk cheddar
handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
12 mint leaves
1 spring onion, finely sliced
50ml extra virgin olive oil
16 pansies or other edible flowers, to decorate
Method:
- Dry-roast the peanuts in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. When they start to colour, add a pinch of salt and the honey. Cook for a few seconds. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. When cool, wrap them in a clean, dry tea towel and crush them coarsely with a rolling pin.
- Layer the rocket and beetroot on a large plate or platter. Quarter the tomatoes and scatter on top. Crumble the cheese over and sprinkle with the peanuts. Add the parsley, mint and spring onion.
- Dress with the olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt. Finally scatter with pansies and serve!
In association with Taste Communications.
www.tastecommunications.co.uk
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