When thinking of cooking a beetroot bread recently I opened up Ottolenghi’s book ‘Simple’ to find this great recipe. I had to make a few replacements based on what I had in the fridge and pantry but that is the creative side of cooking and using what you have to hand. The bread is delicious – definitely worth a try.
50g rolled oats
10g thyme leaves, finely chopped
50g pumpkin seeds
2 tsp caraway seeds (or replace with sunflower seeds)
2 tsp nigella seeds
100g plain flour
100g wholemeal flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 beetroots (raw, peeled and finely grated, 200g)
2 large eggs
80ml extra virgin olive oil, plus 1 tblsp for greasing
80g soured cream (or replace with natural Greek yoghurt)
1 tblsp honey
20g Parmesan, finely grated
120g young and creamy goat’s cheese, roughly broken into 2cm pieces (or replace with feta cheese)
Salt
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius fan forced. Grease and line the base of a 20 x 10cm loaf tin.
Mix together the oats, thyme, pumpkin, caraway and nigella seeds in a small bowl. Put both flours into a separate bowl with the baking powder, bicarb soda and ¾ teaspoon of salt. Whisk to combine and aerate, then add the grated beetroot and all but 1 tablespoon of the oat and see mix. Don’t stir the mixture, just set it aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, soured cream, honey and Parmesan. Pour over the flour and beetroot mixture, then, using a spatula, mix to combine. Add the goat’s cheese and carefully fold through, trying not to break the pieces as you go.
Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and sprinkle over the remaining tablespoon of oats and seeds. Bake for 40 minutes, then cover tightly with foil and bake for another 40 minutes. A skewer inserted into the middle will not come out completely clean but it should not be too wet. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes, then tip on to a wire rack and invert it back on itself so that it is seed side up. The outside will be quite crisp and dark. Cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing.
