River Cottage

Preheat the oven to 200C

Trim the beetroots leaving about 3 cm of the stem and the root in place. Wrap the beetroots tightly in individual parcels of tinfoil with a few sprigs of thyme some salt and a splash of olive oil in each parcel.

Place on a shallow baking tray with a centimeter of water and then into the hot oven for about 40 minutes or until tender.

Remove them from the oven, unwrap the beetroot and place in a bowl under some cling film to let them sweat while they cool. When cool enough to handle peel them gently (the skin should come away easily) and then marinate them in the vinegar with a pinch of salt and a glug of olive oil for at least an hour but ideally overnight.

To serve, reheat the marinated beetroot in a pan over a medium heat with a little of the vinegar and oil mixture to gently warm them through.

Once they are warm scatter through some beetroot leaves, put the lid on for a couple of seconds until they have wilted down a little, remove from the heat and mix the poppy seeds through the mixture until the beets are evenly coated. Plate the mixture with a little of the juice and scatter a few pieces of Gorgonzola over the top.

This recipe is one of hundreds of new recipes which can be found in the book which inspired the series, Hugh's Three Good Things.

LINKS

• Challenge Hugh and win a �2,000 River Cottage bundle
• Check out Hugh's Scrapbook on Channel 4