Rye Crostini with tarragon Tvorog & roas beets
Ingredients
Raw red beetroots, washed
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for dressing
small bunch of tarragon, leaves only
200g tvorog or cottage cheese or curd cheese
4 slices of dark rye or Borodinsky bread
sea salt flakes
To roast the beetroots, preheat the oven to 200°C fan/Gas Mark 7. Sit the whole beetroots on a roasting tray, brush them with the olive oil and sprinkle them with sea salt. Cover with foil and roast for 40 minutes or until they can be pierced easily but still retain
a bit of a crunch.
To peel the beetroots, let them cool down, then simply pinch the skin, which should come off easily. Cut each beetroot into medium- sized wedges (roughly 8 per beetroot), dress with a little olive oil and salt and set aside.
Finely chop the tarragon leaves (reserve a few for garnish), then mix them with the tvorog or cottage or curd cheese, add the remaining lemon zest and juice and season with salt. Give it a good mix and taste to adjust the seasoning.
To assemble the crostini, toast the bread as on page 18. Cut
in half if serving 8 people as canapés, or leave the slices whole if serving as a starter. Top each slice with a heaped tablespoon of the tvorog mixture, followed by a wedge of roasted beetroot and garnish with the reserved tarragon leaves and a few crystals of sea salt.