Beetroot & Wasabi

I had a beetroot and horseradish cream canapé in a rather smart restaurant a few weeks ago. It tasted good, but didn’t look so good as the beetroot had turned the horseradish cream pink. I gave this some thought and came up with the idea of using a dot of wasabi, Japanese horseradish, hidden under a crunchy piece of walnut – it’s very quick and easy and, of course, made ahead. Give it a go and see what you think!

Ingredients

1 bunch of uncooked beetroot

(for very easy, just use a packet of ready cooked beetroot)

wasabi (I used the ready made variety in a tube, but for gluten free, Clearspring organic wasabi is advertised as wheat free)

Walnut pieces

Flat leaf parsley

Method

If using fresh beetroot, wrap it in foil, place on a baking sheet and cook in a preheated oven at 190 for 45 minutes to an hour or until it feels tender when pierced with a knife.

When it is cool enough to handle, peel the beetroot and leave it to become cold. Using round cutters (from Kitchen Craft, available on Amazon, click here for the link), cut cylinders of beetroot and then slice them to approximately 1.5 cms deep. You will get 3 or 4 canapés out of each medium sized beetroot.

Dot each circle of beetroot with a small amount of wasabi, add a little sprig of parsley and top it with a piece of walnut. Done.

These are probably best served on white china canapé spoons, but are also fine on a white plate as in the picture. They will keep for several hours in the fridge. Bring them out for an hour or so before serving.

I hope you like them.