A vibrant combination of colour, flavour and texture, this beautiful salad makes a delightful addition to a summer meal or picnic. I make it with my favourite cheese – La Tur, a delicate tasting creamy cheese produced in Northern Italy from a blend of cow, sheep and goats milk. http://culturecheesemag.com/cheese-library/la-tur . However you can use any creamy mild tasting goats cheese. Alternatively,  for a more robust flavour or to make the salad into a meal in itself use a more piquant blue cheese such as Roquefort.

Salad

2 large beetroot, about 800g

12 walnut halves, toasted

200g fresh Tur or fresh mild goat’s cheese

100g sun-blush tomatoes in oil

1 bunch rocket

3-4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only, chopped

 

Dressing

100ml olive oil

1 tablespoon walnut oil (optional)

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

½ teaspoon sugar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Preheat the oven to 190g/gas5

Cook the beetroot – this can be done the day before or well in advance:

Wash and trim the beetroot if it is fresh from the ground. Loosely wrap the beetroots in a foil ‘parcel’ and cook in the oven for 1 ½ -two hours depending on the size of the beetroot. They are cooked when a small knife can be inserted easily. Remove the package from the oven and leave the beetroot to cool until you can handle them. – They can be left to cool completely or overnight if you like.

 Make the dressing:

Combine the dressing ingredients in a jar or a small bowl and shake or whisk to combine and emulsify.

 Prepare the Salad:

Dry fry the walnut halves in a fry8ng pan over a moderate heat to toast them. When they are lightly coloured and aromatic tip them onto a dish and leave them to cool.

Cut each cooked beetroot into chunks of wedges and toss them in a tablespoon of the prepared dressing.

Cut or tear the goat’s cheese into chunks.

Arrange the washed rocket onto a flat serving dish and scatter over the beetroot, the sun blush tomatoes, the cheese and the walnuts.

Drizzled the salad with a few tablespoons of the dressing, scatter over the chopped fresh thyme and serve.