FRESH BEETS RECIPES RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. To make the basil oil, pick the basil leaves and finely chop the stalks. Put a few leaves in a bowl of cold water for later, then place the rest in a pestle and mortar. Add a pinch of sea salt and bash the basil leaves until they have broken down into a dark green paste. Transfer the paste to a jug and add your extra virgin olive oil. Mix together well.
  2. To make the soup, add a lug of olive oil to your biggest pan over a medium heat. Peel and slice the garlic and add to the pan with the basil stalks. Fry for about a minute then add all the tomatoes. Stir in 150ml of water and bring to the boil. Reduce to a medium heat and let the tomatoes cook for 5 minutes until they are slightly broken down. If your tomatoes are nice and ripe they’ll be naturally sweet and soft, which means you won’t need to cook the soup for too long.
  3. Remove the soup from the heat, add a splash of red wine vinegar then carefully blitz with a hand blender until you get a consistency that’s to your liking.
  4. Serve in warm bowls with a spoonful of bright green basil oil swirled on top and sprinkled with the reserved basil leaves. You can even eat any leftovers cold from the fridge for a really fresh, light soup.

Steps:

• 1. Preheat your oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5. Bring two large pans of salted water to the boil.
  2. Scrub the beets, then place in one of the pans - keep them separate to stop the rest of your veg turning red! Parboil for 20 to 25 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, peel the carrots and parsnips, then chop any bigger ones in half along with the turnips. Trim and quarter the fennel.
  4. Place the prepped veg together in the second pan and parboil for 10 minutes. Drain all the veg and leave to steam dry, then separate them out so you can hit them with those different flavours.
  5. Toss the beets with the balsamic vinegar and whole herb sprigs.
  6. Toss the carrots with the clementine juice and throw in the squeezed halves, then pick over the rosemary leaves.
  7. Toss the parsnips with the vinegar and tear over the sage leaves. Reserve the honey for later.
  8. Toss the turnips with the vinegar and bay.
  9. Toss the fennel with the lemon juice, then pick over the thyme leaves.
  10. Lay them out on a large tray, keeping each veg type together. If you're making this ahead, you can get up to this stage the day before, then cover them with tin foil and keep them with your spuds till your turkey is resting. Nothing will discolour because of the oil and acid.
  11. Roast for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until golden, crispy and beautiful. About 5 minutes before the veg are ready, drizzle the honey over the parsnips.
  12. Once ready, give the tray a jiggle, then pile the veg on a platter.