Roasted Beetroot Galette: Higgidy The Cookbook
Beetroot is like marmite, you either love it or hate it. Are you a beetroot lover or hater? We’ve got one of each in our household. This easy roasted beetroot galette, adapted from the new edition of Higgidy: The Cookbook, is a bit of a miracle. It’s so delicious even beetroot hating CT likes it. Read on for the recipe and book review.
Beetroot
Beetroot is a veritable treasure trove when it comes to health benefits. It’s low in fat, full of vitamins and minerals and packed with antioxidants. They are a particularly good source of folic acid, fibre, vitamin C, manganese, potassium and glutamine.
The Romans were very keen on beetroot. They viewed them as an aphrodisiac, apparently. So the Higgidy suggestion, is to make this roasted beetroot galette as a Valentine’s supper starter.
Higgidy: The Cookbook
I’m a big of a fan of Higgidy pies, so I was delighted to be sent a copy of their new edition cookbook to review. Higgidy is a pie company based in Shoreham-by-Sea and it specialises in hearty family comfort food. Camilla Stephens, the author of Higgidy: The Cookbook and founder of Higgidy is very adamant that the recipes in the book reflect the company’s ethos. No fancy stuff, no low carb, no fat-free, “this book is about feel good family food: recipes that warm the heart and feed the soul“.
It all sounds good to me. Don’t get me wrong, as a vegetarian whole food blogger, healthy food is very important to me, but there’s always a place for a good pie.
This updated edition includes fourteen new recipes to reflect the rising popularity of gluten-free baking and vegetarian eating. Spinach, paneer and spiced chickpea pie caught my eye as did a gluten-free quiche base made out of sweet potato. Actually, it’s the one you can see on the cover below. There are one hundred recipes in all with chapters covering Simple Suppers, Party Pies, Crafty Quiches & Trusty Tarts, Sweet Treats and Easy Extras.
The book is a little heavy on meat and fish pies, but there are a few vegetarian ones to choose from and you can easily adapt many of the former. Unadorned vegetarian delights include: spicy tomato and lentil layer pie, giant garlicky mushroom galette and courgetti and ricotta cheesecakes with pink peppercorns that come in the form of tarts. I almost can’t wait for spring so that I can try the lemony asparagus and ricotta tart which sounds fresh and delightful.
I do love autumn though, so I won’t wish it away.
Pastry
Some recipes use ready-made pastry such as filo and puff and others are made from pastry recipes in the book. I guess it’s entirely up to the reader as to whether they go down the homemade path or ready-made one. As you can see from the roasted beetroot galette featured here, I do occasionally succumb to ready-made pastry.
Although I’m very happy with my wholemeal spelt flaky pastry as used in my rustic rhubarb galette, it’s nice to ring the changes from time to time. And I’m rather taken with the quick soured cream pastry recipe in the book. There’s also a recipe for gluten-free shortcrust pastry made with potato flour and polenta which I’m keen to try.
The pastry section includes a few tips on making and handling pastry. These are really useful if you want to make your own, particularly if you’re a novice. Not everything in the book is pastry based, however. There are crumble toppings, mash toppings and some that are cooked in a parchment case and have no base or topping at all. Roasted risotto pumpkin pie is pretty much risotto baked in a pumpkin and it looks delicious.
Sweet Treats
When it comes to the sweet stuff, I’m almost overwhelmed by the recipes that ring my chimes: pear and whisky tart, rhubarb crumble tarts and honeyed nut and custard tart probably give you an inkling. Oh, but I must just mention the sticky ginger and apple tart tatin, the raspberry almond pithivier and the chocolate snowflake tart; they have my name written all over them.
What did I like?
I’m a pastry fan, so this book really appeals to me. It’s come at just the right time too. As the autumnal colours appear, the days shorten and the weather turns, I’m looking for comfort food. This book offers some of the best comfort food you can get. All I need now is a roaring fire, a comfy chair and a steaming mug of hot chocolate so I can settle down and absorb this cookbook in true comfort.
The photography makes the food look appetising and nearly all of the recipes are illustrated. The recipes are well written and thorough with some additional tips along the way. It’s a useful book for both experienced cooks and those who are new to it. I now have lots of ideas for future pie and tart making.
What do I think could be improved?
More vegetarian recipes, but then I would say that, wouldn’t I? In particular, there’s very little in it for vegans. This is a shame, when so many of us are trying to cut back on dairy to some extent or another. I do think a recipe for vegan pastry would be extremely useful.
Book Details
Higgidy: The Cookbook – 100 recipes for pies and more / Camilla Stephens. Published by Mitchell Beazley, October 2018. Hbk. 978-1-78472493, £20.
Incidentally, I’ve reviewed some of Higgidy’s vegetarian pies in the past. Just in case you’re interested.
Roasted Beetroot Galette
This roasted beetroot galette is very similar to this mushroom tart and the honeyed fig and goat’s cheese tart I updated recently. It’s a puff pastry tart with a layer of cream cheese which I mixed with horseradish. This is followed by slices of beetroot which are I scattered with thyme leaves and then brushed with a honey glaze.
If you do it my way, it’s also incredibly quick to make. I could only get hold of purple beetroot, which was a bit annoying as I had a gorgeous bunch of golden beets delivered in my veg box a couple of weeks ago. They ended up being pickled in a similar way to these carrot pickles.
Roasted Beetroot Galette – Assembly
The long and short of it was, that I went for a cheat’s version. I bought cooked beets, ready rolled puff pastry and ready made horseradish sauce. So all I had to do really was assemble the components. The book’s recipe is a bit more complicated as you first have to cook a golden beetroot and a French candy beetroot, although you can buy ready-cooked purple beets.
The most difficult thing you have to do my way is slicing the beetroot. It’s virtually impossible not to get stained fingers doing this.
As per the recipe, I used mascarpone – yum! I mixed it with some hot horseradish cream and spread it over the pastry base. It was then just a case of laying the beetroot slices over the top, scattering over some thyme and drizzling it all with a little olive oil.
Into the oven it went and out it came thirty minutes later. Roasted beetroot galette is just perfect for when you need something delicious in a hurry.
My tart may not have looked as colourful as the Higgidy one with its pretty and varied beets, but oh my, it sure tasted good. We scoffed the whole thing between us for supper, which wasn’t quite how I’d planned it.
But the pastry was crisp and buttery, the mascarpone creamy and the beets sweet with a note of thyme and a persistent, but not too powerful heat from the horseradish. It would have been a shame not to eat it at its best.
We enjoyed it with some stir-fried cabbage, but it would make a perfect lunch for four served with a green salad or a starter for six at your next dinner party.
Other Beetroot Recipes You Might Like
- Beetroot juice with orange and ginger
- Beetroot and orange brownies
- Best beetroot chutney
- Golden beetroot cake
- Orange and beetroot cupcakes
- Spiced pickled beetroot
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this roasted beetroot galette, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate it. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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Choclette x
Roasted Beetroot Galette. PIN IT.
Roasted Beetroot Galette
Ingredients
- 4 cooked beetroot
- plain flour (all purpose flour) for dusting
- 250 g all-butter puff pastry (I used a 230g ready rolled sheet)
- 125 g mascarpone cheese
- 25 g hot horseradish cream
- olive oil for brushing
- 4 sprig fresh thyme leaves only
- 1 tbsp runny honey warmed
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Start by slicing each beetroot as thinly as you can, 2-3 mm thick.4 cooked beetroot
- Preheat the oven to 200℃ (fan 180℃, 400℉, Gas 6).
- Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface and roll into a rectangle of roughly 20cm x 30cm and 3 mm thick. Transfer to a baking sheet and score a 2 cm border around the edge using a sharp knife, making sure you don't cut right through the pastry.plain flour (all purpose flour), 250 g all-butter puff pastry
- Place the mascarpone in a small bowl and stir to loosen it. Mix in the horseradish and season with a little salt and pepper.125 g mascarpone cheese, 25 g hot horseradish cream, salt and pepper
- Spread over the pastry, taking care not to go over the scored border. Top with a mixture of the beetroot slices. Brush each slice with olive oil, sprinkle over the thyme leaves and bake for 30 minutes.olive oil, 4 sprig fresh thyme
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly, then brush with honey just before serving.1 tbsp runny honey
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Linkies
I’m sharing this roasted beetroot tart with Flipped-Out Food for #CookBlogShare and Only Crumbs Remain for #BakingCrumbs.
Higgidy: The Cookbook Giveaway
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I think pastry mince pies would be wonderful for Christmas!
I would love to make good cornish pastys – does that count?
Oh, I think it very much does count Richard 😀
A proper meat pie! My dad loves them and is love to be able to make one for him!
I’d like to try making hot water pastry. I’d make a lovely chicken and leek pie. Yum.
I love pastry work. My favourite recipe is spinach and feta pie using filo pastry.
Flaky pastry with out it being undercooked
Ooh no, undercooked flaky pastry isn’t very nice at all.
I’d love to be able to crack sweet pastry… I can make a mean savory one but when it comes to sweet it just never turns out right! 🙁
Well done on your savoury pastry. I’m coming to you for lessons.
I really fancy making some sort of vegetarian wellington for Christmas Day this year. I have never made my own pastry but would love to see how it turns out
I would love to make choux pastry, have tried many a time, and I can’t get it right
I’d like to make great sausage rolls for the Christmas period!
I would love to make cheese pie with a puff pastry top more often. I usually end up just making it with a shortcrust pastry as its quicker but it tastes better with a puff pastry top xx
At this time of year would love to master a Mince Pie pastry
If you make mince pies this year Claire, grate some orange zest into the pastry. It gives a real wow to the pies.
I would like to make puff pastry enable me to bake a fabulous Cornish pasty
Lemon meringue pie because I can never get the meringue right!
I’d love to be able to make perfect sausage rolls especially with Christmas around the corner.
Hot water crust pastry, I have tried it several times in the past but I don’t think I have quite mastered it yet!
I always struggle with making filo pastry and would love to be able to make Brie and silver beet filo cigars
Gosh, I’m impressed Collette. Making your own filo pastry is not for the faint hearted. Your cigars sound scrumptious.
i’d love to make my own flaky and puff pastry instead of buying it ready made but just dont have the time x
Ood love to have a go at puff pastry. I normally but it pre made but its so easy to work with, just make a tart on top then pop it in the oven.
I would love to do chouz pasty! I never have the guts to try
Would love to make my own puff pastry and make goats cheese and beetroot tarlets
I love puff pastry so would love to be able to make it myself
pastry for sausage rolls
i would love to attempt a hot water crust, and maybe make a pork pie
I would love to perfect choux pastry – i find it so difficult to get right
I haven’t attempted choux pastry in years. I’ve been putting off trying again 😉
Crisp pastry for pies as mine seem to suffer from the dreaded ‘soggy bottom’ !!
Any kind of cheese pastry as they are my favourite kind to eat – nom nom nom
I’d like to make rough puff pastry but I don’t have the patience, all the rolling and chilling… Far easier to buy it.!
It would be great to have the time to make flaky and short crust pastries for vegetarian pies but seem to take so long!
I wish I could nail an apple tarts tatin. I can’t seem to get it perfect each time
Me too Harriet. I’m too scared to even try.
I’d love to make quiche’s without them turning too heavy!
Mmmmm yum! This is definitely the sort of savoury bake I’d love to sink my teeth into Choclette – I love beetroot – but like your household my hubby doesn’t share that love 🙁 so I rarely get to try beetroot bakes (that is unless I hide it into something like a chocolate cake lol 😉 ) . Thankyou for continuing to share with #BakingCrumbs,
Angela xx
Oh no, what is it with these men? Weirdly, CT actively enjoyed this tart, so you never know…
I would love to make choux buns but I’ve never quite got them right!
I would like to be able to make strudel as it would remind me of living in Germany
Have bought Higgidy from Waitrose, lovely items, be great to get my hands on one of their cookbooks
I’d really love to have a go at making my own puff pastry
Love beetroot and this galette looks very inviting. Would love to have a slice with some green leaves on the side.
I really want to make cinnamon buns because ive never done them and what better reason than that lol plus they super tasty so win win all round!
I would love to be able to make a gluten free choux as my daughter and I are both gluten intolerant and we haven’t had profiteroles for years.
Oh goodness, I can see that might be a challenge, but what a brilliant outcome. I hope you manage to find a good recipe.
I wish I could make choux pastry – it never goes well for me!
Definitely a quiche, i can never get the technique right!
I wish I could make flaky puff pastry but I don’t think I’ve ever had the time to focus on it!
I know exactly what you mean. Would be wonderful, but …
I would love to be able to make more quiches as i’m not great at the pastry making part which is annoying
I’d love to be able to make raised pies using hot water crust pastry but it always seems to fail
I’d love to be able to make a decent shortcrust pastry so I could make quiches and apple pies that actually tasted good! Pastry making is really not my strong point!
Definitely a beetroot lover here and thankfully the rest of the family are too including kiddos. Such a lovely and uncomplicated tart and I think I prefer your quicker take on it with the ready cooked beetroot. Such a quick midweek dinner or lunch, all you need on the side is a bit of salad! Thank you for sharing this lovely tart with #BakingCrumbs 🙂
PS. I would love to make my own puff or flaky pastry one of these days and make almond croissants using it! 🙂
Oh you’re lucky to have a beetroot loving household – definitely makes things a bit easier. It’s a great tart for getting a quick meal on the table and a salad goes with it perfectly. I did make croissants many years ago, they were good, but it was so fiddly, I’ve never repeated the process.
I’m ambivalent about Marmite, but I do love beetroot! I’ll definitely be making this tart with beetroot from my garden.
It will be even better with your own homegrown beetroot Janice – mmm! So, you buck the trend with Marmite. Neither a lover nor a hater 😀
This looks so delicious and inviting. I love the flavours and can imagine how tasty it is!
Thanks Cat. It’s a great way to get a delicious meal on the table when you’re busy.
I would love to make a beetroot tart like yours. I absolutely love beetroot and this looks amazing & quite easy too!
Love there food, just finished eating a leek and feta frittata of theirs .. really interested in reading this book and having a go at the above recipe, in my head to do this, have everything on the list already in the fridge. Tomorrow lunch seems to have been planned for me. .
I’d love to be able to make proper puff pastry from scratch – I think I’ve mastered every other type. I did try it once but it was, erm, rather trickier than opening a packet! However my favourite brand of all-butter puff pastry seems to have gone downhill a lot recently, it doesn’t perform as well as it used to, so perhaps it’s time I tried.
I love this recipe – I love beetroot but unfortunately it doesn’t love me, and tends to upset my tummy, but this would be a way of getting that lovely beetroot flavour without eating too much at a time.
Oh no Jane. I’m sorry to hear beetroot doesn’t agree with you. As for puff pastry, I love the idea of homemade, but I just don’t have the patience. I look forward to seeing your second attempt though 😀
What a gorgeous tart! I love the colour of beetroot so much
It’s not a shy vegetable at all – a great colour indeed.
I would love to make homemade puff pastry so I can make a proper Tarte tatin
Now that sounds like an ambition well worth having Richard.
hot water pastry looks to be a challenge (well it is to me!!)
I have to admit that I fall into the “beetroot hater” category: they’ve always tasted a bit like mud to me. But they ARE gorgeous, and I AM cognizant of their huge health benefits, so I do eat beetroots in recipes with strong flavors. This galette is right up my alley: the horseradish and thyme are the perfect foil for the beetroot, and the creaminess of the mascarpone—AH! Thanks for bringing this to #CookBlogShare!
They definitely have an earthy flavour and that’s what CT doesn’t like about them either. But as you say, the flavours and textures of this tart change things quite a bit.
Puff Pastry – would love to make it but realise it takes hours! I never have the time!
I love beetroot but never think to use it in cooking. I’m a big fan of higgidy, I have the original cookbook!
Oh! Have you made anything from it Kavey? I do love a good pie.
Ruff-Puff – one of my favourites but I have never made it yet
choux pastry, as seems too delicate for me but would be useful to be able to master this
what a great way to showcase colourful beetroots – and I think I would have gobbled this all down quickly too as it sounds lovely – though a little left for breakfast would go down well too
Good one Johanna. I’m not sure CT could b persuaded to eat beetroot for breakfast, however much he like this tart. But I’d be very happy to join you.
I would love to be able to make my own sausage roll from scratch. X
My favourite pastry to make is a really crumbly shortcrust pastry with a mixture of white and wholemeal flour!
Wholemeal flour makes for a really flavoursome pastry I find.
Hot water crust pastry would be a good start
I would like to make a corned beef pie with nice pastry like my husband can make!
I’d love to be able to make jam tarts from scratch!
This looks so inviting! I would love a huge slice with a seasonal salad for my lunch :-))
That’s just what we had for supper and very good it was too Angie 😀
I wish I could make goat’s cheese tarts because they’re delicious.
I think Hot water crust pastry, I have tried it in the past but I don’t think I have quite mastered it yet!
I am interested in making lefse. My dad always made it.
Filo pastry is so easy to use and I use it a lot to make quick parcels after work, though I’d love to be able to be confident enough to make my own – I’m guessing that it would be too fiddly though!
I LOVE beetroot (and marmite for that matter…) So this recipe is right up my street. Love that this uses ready rolled puff pastry too – I’m not ashamed to say I always have a roll in my fridge!
Hahaha, wise move Emma. It’s useful stuff. Don’t really understand why CT is averse to beetroot, he eats pretty much anything else. Luckily, he likes marmite too.
I’ve never made hot water crust pastry – very tempted after seeing GBBO but always think it would be tricky – a veggie pie would be lovely x
Yes, I’ve been wanting to try a hot water crust for years and still haven’t got around to it.
I would love to make a quiche Lorraine using a short crust pastry base!
I used to hate making pastry, but now I’ve got it sussed I don’t mind nearly as much.