My take on Hawksmoor’s Beetroot Salad with Goat’s Cheese

I had a beetroot salad recently at Hawksmoor (a London establishment, best known for its fantastic steaks) and loved it. This is my attempt to recreate the flavours, but make it more substantial so that it serves as a main course for a weekday dinner.  For once no one missed the meat!

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My take on Hawksmoor’s Beetroot Salad with Goats Cheese
To make a salad substantial enough for dinner, I added some roasted swede, as I had that handy. But any other roasted root veggies like parsnips, carrots, or pumpkins would work. You don’t need a farmers market, it’s easy to find good beetroots, but do seek out some golden beetroots if possible as the flavour is really sweet and complements the horseradish. Very straightforward to make, and looks beautiful. Just make sure that you roast the vegetables at some point the day before. See recipe notes below.
Cuisine Modern British
Prep Time 15 min
Cook Time 45 min
Passive Time 2 hours
Servings
Ingredients
For the roasted vegetables
Horseradish dressing
To serve
Cuisine Modern British
Prep Time 15 min
Cook Time 45 min
Passive Time 2 hours
Servings
Ingredients
For the roasted vegetables
Horseradish dressing
To serve
Instructions
Preparing the veggies
  1. Preheat the oven to 190C fan or 210C conventional.
  2. If any of the beetroots are too large, cut them in half. Wrap each piece tightly in some aluminium foil. Place on an oven tray and put in the hot oven. Bake for about 40-45 minutes until the beets are tender. To check doneness, pierce with the tip of a knife; it should go through easily.
  3. Meanwhile, if using swede or any other root vegetable, cut into small ½” dice, toss in the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on another oven tray (preferably lined with a baking liner for easier cleaning) and bake simultaenously in the oven, with the beets. Swede will take about 25-30 to cook to a golden brown, other vegetables could take a bit less or more, so keep a watch and remove as soon as cooked and getting browned at the edges. Take out of oven and cool.
  4. Prepare the dressing by mixing all the dressing ingredients together.
  5. After the beets have cooled, remove the foil and peel off the skin by rubbing it off the beets. Cut beets into wedges and stir through the prepared dressing to coat well.
  6. If using kale, chop the kale and add a little salt and olive oil and massage it in a little to soften the kale. The kale should be allowed to sit in this dressing for at least 15 min, but anything up to 2 hours is fine. If using alternative salad leaves, omit this step.
To serve
  1. To serve: Preheat the oven on the grill setting to the highest temperature.
  2. Lay out 4 serving plates and divide the kale or salad leaves into each, and top with the dressed beet. Place the swede / other root veg around the beets in a circle and sprinkle the toasted nuts.
  3. As soon as the oven is hot, lay the sourdough bread on a baking sheet on an oven tray and pop into the highest shelf. Watch like a hawk, as it may take only 1-2 minutes to brown.
  4. Slice the goat’s cheese log into 4 discs. As soon as the sourdough is toasted on one side, take it out of the oven, flip over and place the one goat's cheese slice on each piece of bread, and return to the oven.
  5. Take out of the oven as soon as the cheese starts softening and melting around the edges (around 2 minutes). See photo.
  6. Remove from the oven and drizzle just a tiny bit of honey across the toasted bread. Place 1 toast on each plate and serve.
Recipe Notes
  • Don’t skip the tiny bit of grated shallot in the dressing, it makes all the difference.
  • I have used kale for the green element, but rocket, watercress of any salad greens could be used instead.
  • If you don’t have toasted nuts handy, toast some nuts in the oven at the same time as you roast the veggies, (ensure oven is on fan setting). Check on the nuts after 8 minutes. Depening on the nuts used, it could take 8-12 minutes.
  • The roasted beets can be refrigerated for up to 2 days wrapped in the foil.
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