Kitchen helper - how to quick-pickle beetroot
With beetroot in season right now a great thing to do is to make your own quick beetroot pickle. It’s delicious in salads, sandwiches and as an accompaniment to just about anything savoury, such as roasted meats or a quiche. Here’s how:
1. Cook
Cook beetroot by wrapping six small/medium whole, trimmed beetroot in foil and roasting at 180C for about an hour. Test they are done by inserting a knife – they should easily yield. Let cool and then slip the skin off (you can do this when they are hot if you wear a pair of rubber gloves – this will also prevent your hands becoming stained).
2. Slice or Shred
Next, thinly slice the beetroot on a mandolin, or coarsely shred with a grater, and place in a sterilized jar or jars. Shredded beetroot is a nice alternative to sliced and is easy to add to sandwiches (no more slices of beetroot sliding out the bottom!)
3. Pickle
Make a brine of one cup white wine vinegar, one cup caster sugar, some thyme, a scattering of peppercorns and mustard seeds, and half a teaspoon of salt. Stir in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Pour over beetroot, allow to cool a little, seal, and refrigerate at least overnight (ideally longer) to allow flavours to develop. If you have used larger beetroot, you will need more pickling liquid to fill your jars: just double the recipe.
This will last in the fridge for several months.
