Bottega - Michael Chiarello [35]
SERVES 6
You may think you’ve had every beet salad, but this one is different. First, roasting the beets in white wine gives them another layer of flavor; second, a blue cheese cream and an outstanding creamy pistachio vinaigrette let you come back to the beet salad without the slightest chance of boredom.
I think this vinaigrette is possibly the best dressing I’ve ever tasted anywhere. You can use it on many different salads.
Roast the beets the morning you plan to make this, and make the blue cheese cream and pistachio vinaigrette the day before, if you like. If the vinaigrette separates overnight in the refrigerator, use an immersion blender or standard blender to bring it back together just before serving.
Wine Pairing: Sauvignon Blanc
6 golden beets, about 1½ pounds
6 Chioggia beets, about 1½ pounds
¾ cup olive oil (see Chef’s Note)
1 cup dry white wine, plus more if needed
2 teaspoons sea salt, preferably gray salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
BLUE CHEESE CREAM
4 ounces mascarpone at room temperature
4 ounces blue cheese at room temperature
¼ cup heavy cream
Pinch of sea salt, preferably gray salt
Light grind of black pepper
CREAMY PISTACHIO VINAIGRETTE
¼ cup Champagne vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
½ shallot, minced
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
2 egg yolks, plus 1 more if needed
1 cup pistachio oil (see Resources)
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon ice water, if needed
½ teaspoon sea salt, preferably gray salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup pistachios, toasted (see Chef’s Note)
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley for garnish
1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon for garnish
Microgreens such as micro arugula for garnish (optional)
1 tablespoon Champagne vinegar for drizzling
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
FOR THE BEETS: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Wash the beets, cut off their tops and tails, and put them in a roasting pan. Pour the olive oil over the beets and then pour in enough white wine so at least half of each beet is under wine. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and roast for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a knife blade slips into a beet easily. Remove from the oven and set aside until cool to the touch. Slip the peels from the beets. When ready to serve, slice the beets into 11/2-inch chunks. (The chunks don’t have to be uniform for this salad.)
FOR THE BLUE CHEESE CREAM: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cheeses and beat on low speed until blended. Add the cream, salt, and pepper and beat on medium speed until smooth.
FOR THE PISTACHIO VINAIGRETTE: In a blender, whir together the vinegar, mustard, shallot, thyme, and egg yolks until smooth. With the machine running, add the pistachio oil and then the olive oil, 1 tablespoon at a time. If the mixture gets too thick, add the 1 tablespoon ice water. You may want to stop if your blender gets warm, because you don’t want your emulsion heated. (If the emulsion breaks, it’s easy to fix: Scrape the vinaigrette out of the blender and set it aside. Cool the blender container in cold water, add another egg yolk and a couple of ice cubes, and then gradually add the broken vinaigrette back to the blender with the machine running.) Season with the salt and pepper.
Chill 6 salad plates, and spoon the vinaigrette into a squeeze bottle or a pastry bag fitted with a small plain tip. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the blue cheese cream onto a chilled plate. Mound the beet chunks on top of the cream in an even mix of golden and Chioggia. Squeeze a circle of the vinaigrette around the periphery of the salad. Toss about a dozen toasted pistachios over the salad, very lightly sprinkle on the parsley and tarragon, and finish with a small mound of micro greens on the top if you like. Drizzle with vinegar and olive oil. Repeat for the other 5 salads.
Calabrian Wedding Soup (Pastina Soup with Tiny Meatballs)
SERVES 8 TO 10
Tender bite-size meatballs and pastina make up this soup, which my mother cooked for me when I begged