Salt Roasted Beet Carpaccio Recipes

BEET CARPACCIO

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Tightly wrap beets in double layers of foil to make 3 packages (2 large beets or 4 medium per package) and roast on a baking sheet in middle of oven until tender, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Cool to warm in foil packages (the steam makes beets easier to peel), about 30 minutes.
• While beets are roasting, cook onions in butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet, covered, over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 20 minutes. Add salt, sugar, and vinegar and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until onions are very tender and caramelized to deep brown, about 20 minutes more. Add wine and boil, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced to about 2 tablespoons, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer mixture to a food processor and pulse to a coarse purée. Return to skillet and season with salt and pepper, then reheat onion marmalade, covered, over low heat.
• While marmalade is reheating, peel beets, discarding stems and root ends, and cut crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick slices with slicer.
• Divide warm marmalade among 6 dinner plates and spread evenly in a very thin layer to cover bottom of each plate using offset spatula. Arrange beet slices in 1 layer over onion, overlapping them only enough to cover onions. Drizzle 2 teaspoons oil over each serving and season with pepper. Shave 4 to 6 curls of Parmigiano-Reggiano with a vegetable peeler over beets on each plate. Serve immediately.
• Available at many cookware stores and Uwajimaya (800-899-1928).

SALT-ROASTED BEETS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Remove greens from beets (reserve if making Amanda Cohen's Beet-Green Pesto). Scrub the beets clean. Place them in a deep roasting pan, then bury them completely in salt and pack it down. Bake 1 hour.
• Remove beets from oven. Insert a paring knife through the salt crust and into a beet to check for doneness. (On the off chance they're not done, return them to the oven and check every 10 minutes.) Crack the crust with a spoon, then remove the beets to a bowl, scraping the salt off them. Careful, they'll be very hot! (You can save the salt for future beet-roasting-just get rid of the clumps and store in an air-tight container in the fridge or freezer.) Rinse beets in water to remove any lingering clumps of salt. Allow to cool so they can be peeled.
• Peel beets with a paring knife, starting with the light-colored ones first, so you don't stain them with juice from the darker beets. First cut the root end, then peel the skin. The skin should peel off easily-a sign they're cooked properly. Cut into quarters, or, if they're smaller, leave whole.
• Arrange beets on a platter and serve.