After I had cleaned up two lots of it I topped and tailed them and peeled them. As is always the way with preparing beetroot the chopping board turned a bright purple, as did my hands, which made them glow as if I was some kind of radioactive mutant.
I next quartered the beetroots and placed them in a glass ovenproof dish, the base of which was covered in sunflower oil, together with some diced cloves of garlic and some sprigs of thyme. I them sprinkled a liberal helping of cumin over the dish and placed it in the oven at gas mark five and cooked it for thirty five minutes.
As the beetroot cooked the music played on in the kitchen; it was more of the Incredible String Band. This time it was their 1969 album "The Big Huge" the record finds the members in, at least as they saw it if not their fans, a better place mentally after their embracing of a new religion and this is reflected in the fact that although the beautifully clear acoustic sounds flow freely, the record is a little too unadventurous even though it contains some solid songs.
Also while the beetroot was cooking I brought a pan of water to the boil and boiled six ounces of spinach for around ten minutes, drained the pan and set the spinach to one side.
After the thirty-five minutes were up I pulled the beetroot out of the oven and turned all the pieces over, as well as hiding the well-cooked garlic cloves under some of the beetroot pieces, and put them back in the oven for another five minutes. Next I took the beetroot out again and laid the spinach on top of it with some slices of mozzerella and put them back in the oven for a further ten minutes.
When I pulled the dish out of the oven ten minutes later I found the mozzerella had browned just enough and the beetroot was crisp, as was the spinach. The cumin also gave it a sharp taste while the the homegrown beetroot was of the highest quality.
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| Melted Mozzerella, warm spinach plus glowing beetroot with plenty of cumin makes this dish a winner |
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