PATZAROSALATA
Patzarosalata is a vibrant Greek beetroot salad that gleams magenta and sings with earthy, tangy flavours. Traditionally made from cooked beetroot (boiled or roasted) mixed with herbs, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice or red wine vinegar and then place on a bed of greek yoghurt that gets mixed through. The dish is simple and really celebrates the wonderful rot vegetable that is beetroot that can be overlooked.
The dish has roots across Greece and the wider Balkans, where beetroot is a staple of village kitchens and seasonal harvests. Recipes vary from island to mainland, reflecting local tastes and available dairy. Common variations include adding horseradish for heat, mixing in walnuts for crunch, or stirring through parsley and dill for herbaceous lift.
For my version I roast the beetroot in its own skin as to keep the flavour in and peeling it after the roast. The mix of parsley and dill is classic flavour combinations when it comes to beetroot. The greek yoghurt gets stained with some beetroot to give the wonderful hot pink colour, combo’d with the white greek yoghurt and then salad of beetroot comes on top leaving a deep purply red to steep into the bed.
PATZAROSALATA
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PATZAROSALATA 〰️
Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Serves: 4, as a side salad
8 medium beetroots
1 small bunch fresh parsley
1 small bunch fresh dill
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 lemon, juice
1 cup greek yoghurt
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt, to taste
Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius, fan forced.
Place the whole beetroot in 2 bundles onto medium squares of aluminium foil, drizzle some oil over and rub in before closing the foil and placing both bundles onto a king tray and bake for 1 hour.
Whilst cooking, prep the salad. Wash parsley and dill and pick off the leaves, reserving some dill fronds for garnish. Roughly chop the parsley and dill leaves and add to large mixing bowl. Add in the minced garlic, lemon juice, 2 table spoons of olive oil and season with salt to taste. Place in fridge until beetroot is ready.
Prep ice bath in bowl.
Once beetroot is baked, take out of foil and place into ice bath. Use the extra beetroot juice sitting in the foil to spoon into half the greek yoghurt and mix through to create the pink and white yoghurt effect on the plate for later. If you don’t have a lot of beetroot juice, just cut a small know of beetroot into the yoghurt and mix through allowing to make pink.
Once beetroot is in the ice bath, using a peeler, peel the beetroot skin off and scared, before slicing the beetroot into medium bite size pieces and add to herb dressing mix. Mix through so all cut beetroot is covered.
To plate spoon dollops of pink and white yoghurt onto large plate, add the beetroot salad on top and finish with reserved dill fronds and a drizzle of EVOO.