Tarte Tatin of Beetroot & Bosworth Ash

Beetroot & goats cheese is a well trodden flavour combination but you don't see it that often as a tarte tatin. Basically a tart assembled upside-down, it is much easier to make that you would expect and this recipe is easily achievable for all but the most ham fisted cook.

Be sure to take full advantage of shop bought all butter puff pastry and ready made balsamic glaze and you will have this tart knocked up with little more than 10 minutes prep effort. For two/three:

Ingredients:

2 large red onions

Olive oil - 25ml

Medium sized raw beetroot - 4

All butter puff pastry - 1 packet, ready rolled

Fresh thyme leaves - 2 or 3 sprigs, leaves removed from stems

Balsamic glaze - 2 to 3 tbsp

Quality goats cheese such as Bosworth Ash

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Wash the worst of the dirt off the beetroot, wrap in foil and bake at 160c for 2 hours or until a small knife pierces the vegetable with no resistance. Allow to cool, peel and slice into 5mm rounds.

Peel and slice very thinly the onion. Gently fry for 20 minutes in the olive oil with a little seasoning until the onions are golden and very soft. At the end of cooking, add half the balsamic glaze and taste - you want the onions to taste sweet and sour so add more if necessary. Allow the onions to cool.

Line the base of a 25cm non-stick frying pan with a circle of baking parchment (the pan must have a metal handle as it is going in the oven). Squirt the remaining balsamic glaze over the parchment and drizzle with a little olive oil. Cover the base of the pan with a layer of beetroot taking time to overlap the beetroot neatly as this base layer will end up as the presentation face of the tart. Sprinkle with seasoning and thyme then spread the onions over the beetroot. The onions form the cement to hold the beetroot in place when the tart is turned out, so use them to fill any gaps. Sprinkle with a little goats cheese - you can use the soft rind here as it will lend flavour but will not spoil the final appearance.

Cut a circle from the puff pastry just larger than your pan and place over the filling. Tuck the edges in and bake at 210c for 30 minutes until the pastry is puffed, deeply golden and cooked through.  You may need to spin the pan in the oven.

Tip the tart out onto a plate so the pastry is now forms the base, remove the paper while the tart is still warm and drizzle with more olive oil and a crumble of goats cheese. Serve warm.