Beetroot is not one of these ingredients that make it frequently onto my kitchen table. But after passing one of my preferred market stands glancing down at some nicely shaped roots (well, as good as it gets really) I felt inspired to come up with a dish. Beetroot is predestined for a bit of a sweet and savoury flavour mix, so I combined it with caramelized onions deglazed in balsamic vinegar. A not too strong tasting topping made from goat faisselle rounds off the flavour mix.

Sanni

Ingredients:

For the crust:

• 150 grams of strong flour (German type 550)
• 50 grams of einkorn flour
• 100 grams of butter
• 1 tip of a knife of salt
• 2 egg yolks
• a few tablespoons of water
• 2 branches of fresh rosemary, leaves picked off and very finely chopped
• butter for preparing the quiche pan

For the filling:

• 4 large beetroots
• 4 red onions
• ca. 25 grams of butter
• ca. 30 grams of Muscovado sugar
• 50 mal of dark balsamic vinegar
• freshly ground pepper, salt
• 400 gams of goat faisselle or goat fromage blanc (white cheese)
• 3 eggs

Preparation:

Preparing the crust:

1. Pass the flour through a fine mesh onto the clean kitchen counter or a baking mat. Cut the cold butter into small pieces into the flour. Rub the butter and the flour between your hands until you have a crumble.
2. Add the salt. Form a depression in the center of your flour mix and add one egg yolk and the rosemary. Quickly start kneading the ingredients adding tablespoons of water one by one until the dough is smooth, but not sticky. Should the dough become too sticky, add a bit more flour.
3. Form a ball, wrap it into cellophane and let the dough rest in the refrigerator for approximately 15 to 30 minutes.
4. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (fan oven).
5. Butter a quiche pan. Roll out the dough thinly and place in the pan, cut away any extra bits hanging over the edge. If you do not use pie weights (see next step), prick the bottom with a fork all over.
6. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the dough. Place pie weights on the top (if you do not have pie weights, you may also use dry foods such as dried chickpeas, dried peas or rice).
7. Put the quiche pan into the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
8. Whisk the other egg yolk, then brush the bottom of the crust with it. Bake for another 1 to 2 minutes (this will prevent the crust from getting soggy from the beetroot juice later).
9. Take the crust out of the oven and set aside.

Preparing the filling:

1. Boil the beetroot for approximately 45 minutes.
2. Let cool down a bit, then peel and cut of the stalk (best to use disposable gloves since the color is very intense). Slice thinly.
3. Peel the onions, cut into halves and then slice very thinly.
4. Melt the butter in a frying pan on low to medium heat. Add the onion slices and fry until soft (at least 25 to 35 minutes – do not let the onion brown).
5. Add the sugar and let dissolve completely. Continue frying until the onions start to caramelize.
6. Deglaze with the vinegar and add the beetroot slices. Season with pepper and salt. Continue frying until the vinegar has reduced almost completely.
7. Pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius.
8. Mix the egg with the goat faisselle/goat fromage blanc. Lightly season with salt.
9. Spread the beetroot and onion mix over the crust. Spread the egg and goat faisselle/goat fromage blanc mix over the top. The mix is meant to be a topping rather than a filling so just spread roughly and be careful not to let it pick up too much of the red beetroot colour.
10. Bake for approximately 35 minutes.
11. Slice/handle carefully when serving to prevent the slices from falling apart. Enjoy warm/lukewarm!