Roasted Beet Root Napolean: Feta & Mint & Dill

[Alexandria Profile]

An absolutely exceptionally gorgeous Greek Mezze which we had during our last trip to the Greek Islands .. Here is a vegetarian legend ..

Roasted Beet Root Napolean with Goat or Cow Feta, or other Fresh Goat Cheese & Mint or Spearmint or Dill Herb ..

The Mousse:

250 g of Fresh Feta ( goat, sheep or cow variety )
250 Ml. Greek Extra virgin olive oil or French or 100% Hojiblanca Spanish Evoo
1 / 2 cup of pine nuts or pistachios
Fresh Mint or Spearmint Herb, Parsley and dill coarsely minced ( about 2 cups of herbs in total )
5 Tblsps of finely diced cucumber peeled
sea salt to taste
fresh lemon juice - 3 tblsps ..
8 Small to medium beet roots
black pepper corns grinded
2 or 3 cloves of minced garlic

1) Whisk all the ingredients for the feta mousse in a blender and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours ..
2) Rub the beetroots with Evoo, salt and black pepper and wrap them in alumimun foil and bake at 180 degrees for 1 hour or until tender ..
3) Peel and quarter the beets without slicing all the way through.
4) place the mousse in the middle of each beetroot and and place on a large platter ..
5) Now the vinaigrette: 1 / 2 cup of fresh squeezed orange juice, 1 / 2 cup of Evoo, 2 tblsps of Dijon Mustard, Greek honey - 2 tblsps, and
salt and black pepper to taste ..
6) Whisk the vinaigrette ingredients and drizzle over the beets lightly and serve with a hot toasted basket of Pita or Focaccia ..

Yields 4 to 6 servings ..

Recipe: Vassillis Stenos ..

Enjoy. Simply exceptional ..
Have a lovely day ..

[Renée Profile]

What a lovely recipe, Alexandria! I won't be making it, however, but I would love it if someone made it for me ... which won't happen!

[Joanbunting Profile]

I adore beetroot especially fresh ones and I often serve them and balsamic vinegar with them with grilled goats cheese - the other thing I love them with is smoked eel. However I dislike Greek olive oil - so used to that produced round here I find both Spanish and Greek too acidic and unsubtle. I know. it is just what you are used to.

[QinNortham Profile]

I know I need new glasses but I can't see any mention of feta in the feta mousse! Happy to stand corrected. Love beetroot and feta but cannot eat them combined after an "incident" a few years ago when I was very, very ill.

[Alexandria Profile]

@ Qin Northam,

Thank you. I had forgotten to type it .. But yes, it is there now in the ingredients required ..

Have a nice evening ..

[Alexandria Profile]

@ Qin Northam,

Thank you. I had forgotten to type it .. But yes, it is there now in the ingredients required ..

Have a nice evening ..

[Alexandria Profile]

@ Renée,

Yes it is quite extraordinary ..

All my best for a lovely evening ..

[Alexandria Profile]

@ Joan Bunting,

I have Friends in Marseille who have a grandfather and dad who produce French Bio Organic Evoo in Provençe ..

One can use whichever, they wish .. I do like 100% Hoji-blanca Spanish Evoo and I have Friends in Pelopponesse who also produce and their Bio Evoo is amazingly spectacular and won the gold award for the best Greek Evoo 2 Years ago .. at the Terraolivo held in Tel Aviv ..

I had fogotten to pick up the French carton that was delivered and so, I used Greek Evodominada which has flavor notes of peach and kiwi .. Lovely and light ..


Have a nice evening & Thank you for all your feedback ..

[Renée Profile]

Alexandria, I have to confess to using Greek Kalamata EV olive oil which is extracted from P.D.O. Kalamata olives grown in the Southern Peloponnese region of Kalamata. I have just tried some on a spoon and fortunately, it is not acidic. Perhaps it varies from different regions?

Do you eat raw beetroot, or cook it first?

[Alexandria Profile]

@ Renée,

I roast or bake my beetroot as in recipe, rubbed in Evoo ..

One can buy pre-cooked beetroot but I prefer the fresh and I roast or bake them ..

[Alexandria Profile]

@ Renée,

I roast or bake my beetroot as in recipe, rubbed in Evoo ..

One can buy pre-cooked beetroot but I prefer the fresh and I roast or bake them ..

[Alexandria Profile]

@ Renée,

I am quite fond of Bio Greek Evoo and yes, there are such a wide variety in Peloponnese ..

The one I use predominately, has aromas of kiwi and peaches as the olive growers also produce these fruits .. Somehow, the aromas have been absorbed by the olives ..

Evodominda which comes in a black velvet pouch in a stunner glass bottle .. It won a gold medal award at the Tel Aviv Terraolivo Evoo Trade Fair a couple of years ago and it is exported to London.

It is like wine, one must taste test and sample many prior to deciding what one really likes ..

Have a great day ..

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I tend to think categories such as Spanish, Greek, Italian, French evoo are too broad, the stuff is very regional and terroir specific

Some of the best I've had for my taste I brought back from Paxos in Greece, then I had some lovely Spanish evoo bought in Sitges, currently I have Greek evoo bought in London which I'm not crazy about. The Italian deli sells evoo "on tap" which I'll try next time, I know it's what the owner uses himself

[Renée Profile]

Alexandria, thank you very much for your kind advice and help! I can easily buy fresh beetroot and also the golden variety.

Regarding the olive oils, I tend to buy the ones with the supermarket name on them, because they have experts who choose them and also the wines that they stock.

[Alexandria Profile]

Stokey Sue,

Thank you for your feedback .. Evoo on tap or draft ! Sounds very interesting .. Does the owner provide a listing of what is in the Evoo and where it is from ? Could be diluted ? Just sample before purchasing .. I never purchase Evoo that is not sealed in extremely dark glass bottles ( Evoo is light sensitive ) ..

Evoo and wine are very subjective and we all have our likes, lessers and dislikes ..

When I prepare a Catalan dish, I use Catalan Evoo and my favorite is one from Gerona from a small boutique grove, and one from Tarragona which produces a Green Evoo Bio Organic for salads which is exquisite or we drive 30 Km, west of Barcelona to a tiny Hamlet called Masquefa where there is a tiny wine grower who has a tiny Evoo bio grove and a small 21 room boutique spa hotel.

When I prepare Spanish cuisine I tend to prefer Navarran Evoo or La Riojan .. I do not use Andalusian Evoos for cooking or salads as they are too too heavy.

When I prepare Greek or Italian cuisines, I use an Evoo from these countries .. and same for French Provençal ..

I receive a lot of samples for the hospitality side of my parents small Company and we all do a tasting and this is a grand assistance in selecting ..

Have a nice evening ..

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Stokey Sue,

Thank you for your feedback .. Evoo on tap or draft ! Sounds very interesting .. Does the owner provide a listing of what is in the Evoo and where it is from ? Could be diluted ? Just sample before purchasing .. I never purchase Evoo that is not sealed in extremely dark glass bottles ( Evoo is light sensitive ) ..

Evoo and wine are very subjective and we all have our likes,

They have cards to tell you where the oil comes from, I've read it but forgotten the details
The oil is in a light proof barrel until dispensed so not likely to have suffered photolysis, having a biochemistry background I'm very careful about keeping things in the dark where necessary. When I bring back oil from my travels I prefer a tin, light proof, light weight, air tight

Anyway, I know and trust the family who run the deli, if the owner (a former chef) says he bothers with the draft oil because it is the one he and the nonna prefer, then it's certainly worth trying 500ml!

[Alexandria Profile]

Stokey Sue,

Sounds very interesting. I have not seen that here, however, perhaps in Madrid, Jaén or Cordoba ? ..

I shall look into it ..

Have a lovely day ..