Beetroot, Lentil and Burrata Salad

After picking some beetroots at the local pick your own farm, we were planning to make a goats curd and beetroot salad. However, the store was out of goats curd, so we decided to tweak an old carrot and feta salad and take it to the next level with balsamic roasted beetroot and onions, and replacing the feta with our favourite cheese – BURRATA!

Ingredients: (Serves two as a light main course)

For the balsamic beetroot and red onion:
6 small to medium beetroots, topped, tailed and peeled, cut into quarters
2 red onions, peeled and cut into 6, with root in tact so they don’t fall apart
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar

For the base of the salad:
250 gram packet of cooked Puy lentils – I use Merchant Gourmet
1 red onion sliced into thin strips
Juice of half a lemon
75 grams of lambs lettuce
150-200 gram of fresh burrata

For the dressing:
4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1.5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1.5 tablespoons honey
Handful of hazelnuts

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C fan / Gas 6
2. Coat the beetroot and red onion in the olive oil, balsamic, sugar, and mix. Season with salt and pepper
3. Roast the beetroot in a baking tray for 20 minutes
4. Add the onions, give everything a stir, and roast for another 25-30 minutes until the onions are soft and the beetroot is cooked but still has a little bite
5. While the oven items are cooking, in a separate pan, add some olive oil and gently sauté the red onion for five or so minutes until soft
6. Add the lentils and warm through
7. Season with salt and pepper, and add the lemon juice, and leave aside and re-warm when assembling salad
8. Lightly toast the hazelnuts in a pan over medium heat for 3-4 minutes and keep your eyes on them and shake the pan to ensure they don’t burn
9. To make the dressing, add the olive oil, balsamic and honey into a jar and mix until emulsified
10. To assemble the salad, mix the lambs lettuce in with the lentil mix, add around 1/4 of the nuts, and around 2 tablespoons of the dressing. Add this to the serving plates
11. Top the salad base with the onions, beetroot, burrata and hazelnuts. Spoon over some of the remaining dressing and serve while warm