I made this beetroot tarte tatin last week and it was so good and so much fun to shoot I decided it deserved its own post. It is of course, just a riff on my fennel tarte tatin recipe.
Some notes on flavors and making it vegan
I made this one a whim so I just used some herbs from my garden and decided to add soy for extra umami and caramelization. As well as a pinch of chipotle flakes for a gentle smoky heat. You can ommit the rosemary, thyme and chipotle but I’d stick with the soy and personally I think these flavors work really well together.
Of course if you’re vegan feel free to skip the blue cheese and top with a vegan cheese instead. The crust is based on a vegan savory tart crust recipe by Maartje Borst so it works very well with vegan butter.
Beetroot Tarte Tatin
An easy recipe for beetroot tarte tatin with (or without) blue cheese. The herbs, spices and cheese are optional but highly recommended.
Equipment
- Large bowl or food processor (see notes)
- Oven
- Cast iron skillet or other oven proof frying pan ⌀ 26 cm - 10"
- Rolling pin or wine bottle (i.e. improv rolling pin)
Ingredients
For the crust
- 2 c - 250 g flour
- 1 t - 5 g salt
- 1/2 c - 125 g butter cold and cut into cubes - non-dairy butter is fine
- 3-4 T - 45-60 ml water cold
For the tarte tatin
- 2 T - 15 ml olive oil
- 2 T - 15 g sugar
- 4 beets precooked, peeled and cut into 14" - 1/2 cm slices
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper to taste
- 1 T - 5 g rosemary leaves optional, coarsely chipped
- 1/2 T - 2.5 g thyme leaves optional
- 1 t - 5 g chipotle flakes optional
- 2 T - 15 ml soy sauce
- 1/2 c - 75 g blue cheese optional, I like a runny aggressive gorgonzola with mine
Instructions
Make the dough
- Place 2 c - 250 g flour in a large bowl and mix in 1 t - 5 g of salt.
- Add 1/2 c - 125 g of butter and pinch and rub the butter into the flour, but avoid kneading proper. You want to be left with a kind of sandy consistency.
- Add 3-4 T - 45-60 ml of cold water and mix by hand until the dough starts coming together. Again, avoid kneading because this will make the dough chewy rather than crumbly. Just keep pushing the dough together until it forms a ball. If it doesn't want to come together add a bit more water.
- Wrap and leave to set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Make the tarte tatin
- Preheat your oven to 200° C - 390° F.
- Heat 2 T - 15 ml of olive oil in a skillet. Divide 1 T - 7.5 g of sugar across the bottom of the pan before placing the slices of beetroot into the pan in a single layer (or as single as you can get it). Add a pinch of salt and pepper and leave to caramelize on a medium-low heat for at least 10 minutes, until the beets have started to turn slightly crisp. The best way to achieve this is to leave them be and not fuck around with them too much.
- Now cover the beets with the remaining 1 T - 7.5 g of sugar before turning the beets over. If you want to ensure your tart looking pretty imagine how it might look the other way round and try to arrange them accordingly before adding 1 T - 5 g of fresh rosemary leaves, 1/2 T - 2.5 g of fresh thyme and 1 t - 5 g of chipotle flakes (if using).
- Let sit for 5 minutes or so (again, no fucking around) before pouring in 2 T - 15 ml of soy sauce. Let sit for another 5 minutes until the soy sauce has evaporated and turn off the heat.
- Take your dough from the fridge and roll it out in an even layer in roughly the same diameter as your frying pan. To make it easier to place the dough onto the beetroot in a second, it's best to do this on some parchment. The dough will break in areas but you can just stick it back together, it's fine.
- Say a quick prayer and flip, toss or manoeuvre the dough onto your beets which are still in the skillet. Pat it down a little to make sure the dough adheres to the beets, tuck in the edges and cut off any excess dough before baking your tatin in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. The dough will remain pale but be cooked through, I promise.
- Turn out the tatin by placing a large plate or board over your skillet and flipping the whole thing over (ask for assistance with this if you have someone around and are a bit of a klutz) and top with the 1/2 c - 75 g of blue cheese (or not, you do you). Serve with a simple green lightly dressed salad.
Notes
You can make these doughs with a food processor but the result won't be as nice and flakey as making it by hand. Still: we make due with what we can.
Once prepared this beetroot tarte tatin will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat for 15 minutes or so in a hot oven.
