Roasted beetroot, goat cheese tapas is a beautiful, earthy and creamy one-bite stack for a healthy tapas spread.
Beetroot
It’s hard to imagine that such an intensely beautiful magenta colored vegetable could be pulled from the dirt of the earth and have such intense color, flavor and sweetness!
You will find beetroots in my kitchen often. I’m not sure if it’s the taste I love so much or the color, but for sure, I find so many ways to create new recipes around them.
Roasted Beetroot Hummus – A Tapas Staple
What can I say, I grew up with a Syrian mom, surrounded by lots of Mediterranean cooks. Hummus was always on the table for a Meze or Tapas spread.
Beetroot Hummus, you must admit, is way more attractive and alluring on a table spread with delicious dishes, than regular ole chick pea hummus.
Don’t get me wrong, my Grandma’s Homemade Hummus Recipe excels all others, but let’s be honest, magenta colored hummus… so pretty!
Beetroots In My Kitchen
Having grown up in a Mediterranean influenced home, food just seemed naturally healthy. Lots and lots of veggies were used in so many varied ways.
When veggie noodle slicers became popular, I knew I just had to try my hand at making noodle shaped beetroots, toss them in a salad, or serve Lamb Meatballs over them for my own rendition of spaghetti and meatballs!
Beetroot and Spinach Bread is too spectacular for words!
It happened on a whimsical whim of wanting to make a Christmas loaf of bread that had beautiful natural colors. This bread is now my favorite bread to eat year round!
More Beetroot Recipes To Love
Like I said, you will find beets in my kitchen almost year round, especially now that I’ve discovered how to grow them.
How would you like a ketchup that has no tomatoes? With acid reflux becoming a prevalent health issue for many, tomatoes are not advisable.
For an almost better tasting ketchup, I created a recipe for Beetroot Ketchup and wow is it scrumptious!
Then, of coarse, to really wow you, I made a Beetroot Ice Cream from homegrown beets (or farmers market beets), and tuck this ice cream in my freezer for the winter months.
Yes, ice cream in the winter, when cold and flu season hits, your throat need soothing and your immune system needs a superfood, which beets are!
Goat Cheese
Let’s be clear about my taste in cheese; I grew up eating only goat cheese, and sheep milk cheese.
It’s my preference because the fat content makes the cheese decadent in flavor and the ancient stories surrounding sheep and goats, make it even richer than the flavor.
My grandfather was from a mountainous ares of Syria. His father herded goats and sheep. No cows in sight.
Fast forward to my Syrian American family, where my sisters and I were born here in America, living just outside the nation’s capital, in a rural area of Maryland, there were no goat or sheep milk cheeses.
My parents had to drive into DC once a month to stock up on cheese.
Goat cheese, in many forms, not just feta, and sheep cheese is the cheese of my childhood and remains the cheese I purchase for myself above all other cheeses. Guess I’m an ole goat snob!
Herbs With Beetroot
While there are numerous types of herbs that compliment veggies or pair compatibly with cheeses, thyme and rosemary are strong flavors that work well with the gentle flavors in this tapas dish.
Dried herbs have a more intense flavor. When the moisture in fresh herbs dries out the natural flavor of the herb becomes concentrated.
Fresh herbs will offer a flavor that is a little more, well… fresh, when they are served uncooked in salads, sandwiches and spreads, they compliment beautifully.
I chose to use fresh herbs in this recipe to keep the flavors fresh since this tapas dish is being served cold.
Making Beetroot Herb Goat Cheese Tapas
Roasting the beetroots is the only timely aspect of this beautiful tapas dish. The nice thing is; that the roots can be roasted days in advance.
I’ve also purchased beetroots that are already cooked and ready to use, so if thoughtfully planned, this dish can come together easily.
Once the beetroots are cooked, simply slice the roots thin and in a uniform shape, since they will be stacked.
Soft Cheese Slicing Tip
Slicing a soft goat cheese, especially a chèvre, can be tricky. It is soft and can easily crumble.
The trick? Put the cheese in the freezer for ten minutes before slicing, and slice with ‘dental floss’!
There is actually a type of cheese slicer that looks like a thin wire attached to a handle, but dental floss works just as well.
Ingredients Needed
- Roasted Beets
- Chèvre goat cheese
- Fresh Thyme
- Chives
- Pink salt
- Rosemary
Equipment Needed
- Baking sheet pan
- Cutting board
- Sharp knife
- Dental floss
- Oven
Roasted Beetroot Goat Cheese Tapas
Ingredients
- 3 Roasted Beets, large
- 8 oz Goat Chèvre Cheese
- 2 tsp Fresh Thyme
- 1 tbsp Chives freshly chopped
- Pink Himalayan salt – to taste
- Rosemary leaves – for garnish
Instructions
- Place the cheese in the freezer for ten minutes while slicing the beets.
- Carefully slice the beets as thin as you can and yet thick enough not to fall apart, taking care to give uniformity to the shapes since they will be stacked.
- Slice the cheese the same thickness as the beetroot slices, using dental floss to glide through the cheese. Set each slice carefully aside until you have enough to put two slices per stack of beets.
- To assemble; place a slice of cheese on top a slice of beetroot, sprinkle a pinch of thyme and chives. Place another slice of beetroot and repeat the cheese. Top with beetroot.
- Chill the stacks for 30-minutes to make them easy to slice. When chilled, simply cut each stacks into quarters, arrange on a plate, sprinkle pink salt across the tops and rosemary leaves.
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.