Beetroot with olives, toasted hazelnuts & pul biber oil

Ingredients

For the beetroot salad

• 650g beetroots
• 4 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
• 85g pitted green olives, halved
• 55g shelled hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
• A small handful of parsley, finely chopped

For the garlic yoghurt

• 170g Turkish or Greek yoghurt
• 1 small clove of garlic, finely chopped

For the dressing

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 30ml pomegranate molasses
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

For the pul biber oil

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp pul biber

Method

Take the yoghurt out of the fridge about 45 mins before serving to bring it to room temperature. Stir in the garlic, season with salt and set aside.

Heat the oven to 220C. Wash, trim and pat dry your beetroots. Wrap each one in foil (first cutting any small beets in half lengthways and large ones into quarters), place on a baking tray and bake for about an hour. Allow to cool before carefully peeling the skin and cutting into 5mm slices.

Place the beetroot slices in a bowl, add the spring onions and olives and combine well.

Toast the hazelnuts in a small, dry pan set over a medium heat for around 3 mins, until they start to turn golden, stirring often. Remove from the heat and set aside.

For the dressing, pour the olive oil, pomegranate molasses and lemon juice into a small bowl, season with salt and pepper and give everything a good mix with a small spoon.

Make the pul biber oil by pour the olive oil into a small pan, stirring in the pul biber and allowing to infuse over a low heat for about 45 seconds.

Stir most of the toasted hazelnuts into the beetroot mixture, reserving some for garnish. Pour over the dressing, combine well, then spoon onto a wide serving dish and top with dollops of the yoghurt, swirling it to reveal the lovely shades of pink and red. Sprinkle with the reserved hazelnuts and the parsley, and drizzle over the pul biber oil.

Image: Sam Harris

Recipe from Istanbul by Özlem Warren (Quadrille)