Serves: n/a
Approx cost: €1
Approx calories (per serving): n/a
Approx preparation and cooking time: 60 – 90 mins
So you may have seen my earlier post on Stir-fried Beetroot Greens on the 24th of July, and I did promise an incoming post for the beet-“roots” themselves, so here we go. Now, there’s a lot you can do with beetroot (it makes a delicious drink for example!), but I thought I’d stick to something rather traditional. You’ll need an appropriately sized canning jar – mine was rather too large but it’s not like they’re going to be around for long enough for anything bad to happen to them, though if you do make a large quantity, storing them in a cool place will ensure they keep for quite some months. The recipe below is for ~400g of Beetroots. You should adapt the recipe accordingly based on the weight of beetroot you will be using!
Ingredients
– ~400g Beetroot, whole, washed, not peeled
– 50g Sugar
– 5 tbsps Spirit Vinegar
– 3 Whole Peppercorns
– 2-3 Cloves
You’ll also need
– Coffee filters or Muslin Cloth
Instructions
- Place the beetroots into a large pan of water and bring to the boil. Boil until soft all the way through. This can take anywhere from 20 minutes for small beetroots to around 50 for larger ones, sometimes perhaps even longer.
- When cooked, drain the beetroot, being sure to save the cooking water, and allow to cool a little, before rubbing off the peel with your hands (the peel will come away very easily!). Trim the ends off and cut the beetroots into evenly sized slices or chunks. Set aside while you filter the cooking water, either through 2 or 3 coffee filters or a Muslin Cloth. This is to ensure you remove any particles of soil from the water. Once you have strained about 2 decilitres of cooking liquid, add it to a saucepan and add in the vinegar, sugar, cloves and peppercorns.
- Prepare a suitably sized jar (or jars) for canning. Wash them thoroughly and sterilise them. Some people like to boil jars in a large pan of water. Other methods, including placing the jar in a hot oven (around 160 degrees Celsius) for about 15 minutes also work. While your jars are sterilising, bring the vinegar solution to the boil and heat for a couple of minutes until the sugar has dissolved. Transfer the beetroot to the canning jar, pour over the vinegar solution and seal the jar. Allow to cool before storing, preferably in the fridge. This will ensure maximum shelf-life.
had you been at the farm? 🙂 I prepared betroot recently as well but I added some onions and "Laurier"! I love betroot <3
No, no trip to the farm unfortunately, although these ones are from our balcony! – I still didn't go yet :'( Really have to try and get there before the season is over. I love beetroot too – people hate too much on the poor little things. They're really so delicious. We had some of these tonight with mint and feta cheese… so good!
These look totally delicious! Thanks for sharing. Jenny
Thanks Jenny! I love beetroot, and they had a lovely delicate spicy flavour from the cloves! Hope you're having a good weekend 🙂
You know I absolutely adore your recipes, but I'm not sure I can eat a beetroot lol. But since you recommenced it, why not try it once 🙂
Hey BG – go on – give it a try. The spices give them a beautiful flavour. Try a small bite a least 😉
I've never had beetroot pickled…. but I'd love to try it! Sadly I don't think the beets I planted this year will get big enough to have much of a root, but at least I'll get some greens!
Thanks for dropping by! Actually, some of our beets were pretty small… they were only grown in a pot after all, but I agree – the leaves were the most exciting part of the crop!
with mint and feta? Like mint leaves? I usually eat beet root just out of the jar 😀 and I remember that my mom served it as a salad to a special dish but I don´t remember which one it was.
Hi Lena – with mint leaves, yeah… well, chopped up actually, but of course originally it's the fresh leaf. I once had a wonderful starter of pickled beetroot, feta cheese, mint, bit of olive oil at <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=2+pieces+cuisine+paris&hl=en&ll=48.894518,2.340667&spn=0.005255,0.010493&sll=48.894369,2.340531&layer=c&cid=10459851889589607724&cbp=13,183.53,,0,8.29&panoid=6jCClMD8gwV7z2bF3dMNfw&t=h&z=17&cbll=48.89455,2.340561" rel="nofollow">this restaurant in Paris. Checking it now, it seems it's permanently closed… bummer :'(
Hi Charles, I am sorry, I don't know how I did it (I'm a notorious pickler and preserver!), but I have missed this fascinating pickling post! And it would be such a shame if I hadn't noticed it at all! It looks delicious and I really love beetroots (I don't know if you are also a fan, but whenever I read about pickled beetroot I think about Adrian Mole… if you're a fan you know why, if not I will not bore you 😉
Hi Sissi! Bert Baxter, right? I read all the Adrian Mole books when I was younger, although I bought the most recent one and couldn't really get into it. Seemed a bit too depressing. I always feel like life is depressing enough sometimes so I like to fill my leisure time with cheer and comedy. Rather naive of me, I know, but everyone needs their own way of escaping 🙂
Yes!!!! You know, every sequel of Adrian Mole was a bit less funny than the first one (which I read dozens of times!). They are still funny for someone who doesn't live in Britain. I can see only the funny side, a kind of black humour which doesn't influence me as much as it does you for example.
I also lately prefer cheerful literature, I understand you completely! McCall Smith and 44 Scotland Street is very relaxing 😉