Chioggia Beet Salad

Chioggia beets are beautiful, with a pink-fuschia-red color, often resembling the stripes in a candy cane when they’re cut. It has its origins in Italy, coming from the coastal town of Chioggia which is very close to Venice.

Ingredients

Beets

• 3 pounds Chioggia beets

Hazelnut Vinaigrette Ingredients

• 1 orange, juiced
• 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 2 teaspoons shallots, minced
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 tablespoon hazelnuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup blended oil
• 1 teaspoon parsley, chopped

Goat Cheese Crème Ingredients

• 8 ounces Goat cheese
• 4 ounces Crème Fraiche (may substitute with 3 ounces sour cream)

Salad Construction (1 serving)

• 4 ounces baby Artisanal lettuce blend
• 4 tablespoons Hazelnut vinaigrette
• 2 ounces Chioggia beets
• 1 tablespoon Goat cheese crema
• 1 tablespoon chopped hazelnuts
• 1 thinly sliced piece of speck (may sub with prosciutto)

Preparation

Chioggia Beets Method

• 1 Roast beets at 350°F for two hours depending on size. You should be able to poke them with a fork and have no resistence.
• 2 Wait for beets to be cool enough to touch and peel the skins while they are still warm with a towel.

Hazelnut Vinaigrette Method

• 1 In a blender add juice, vinegar, shallots, zest, mustard and honey.
• 2 Turn the blender on and begin to slowly add blended oil.
• 3 Once the blended oil is added, add hazelnut oil, hazelnuts and chopped parsley.
• 4 Keep mixing for about 30 more seconds, you should still see pieces of chopped hazelnuts.

Goat Cheese Method

• 1 Combine ingredients until smooth.

Final Plating

• 1 Toss lettuce with some vinaigrette, roll the bottom of the lettuce leaves with speck.
• 2 In a separate bowl toss the beets with some vinaigrette.
• 3 Smear goat cheese across crema on the bottom of the plate .
• 4 Mound beets toward the back of the plate and rest the lettuce flower gently atop the beets.
• 5 Finish with chopped hazelnuts.