I’m hosting an event at work soon where we make ricotta and then use it in a few recipes, and I just gave this a go as one of the recipes for people to try their ricotta in. It’s a really super delightful color, I think you’ll all agree!

Ingredients:

• 1 baseball-sized red beet (about 6 ounces), scrubbed
• 1 15 1/2 ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1/3 cup tahini, well mixed
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup ricotta
• 1 garlic clove (Bon Apetit talks about grating it first, but it’s all going in the food processor, so as long as you do actually blend until smooth, I don’t see the point)
• 1 teaspoon (or more) kosher salt
• 10 cranks freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Wrap the beet tightly in foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake 60-70 minutes, until a fork slides easily into the center of the beet. (My oven wasn’t fully preheated, so I just didn’t check until 75 minutes, at which point it was good.) Let rest, unwrapped, until cool enough to handle.

While you wait, process the chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, ricotta, garlic, salt, pepper, and coriander in a food processor until smooth.

Once the beet has cooled, wrap it in paper towel and rub firmly to remove all the skin. Trim off the scraggly root end, and any remaining base of the greens. Cut beet into 8 large pieces.

Add the sliced beet to the mixture in the food processor, processing until smooth again.

Taste, and add any additional salt if desired.

Serve with bread/toasted baguette/crackers, and garnish with mint leaves, poppy seeds, or olive oil if desired. Can be stored in the fridge up to 4 days.

Alternately, make some pitas (I guess we’ll cover that recipe soon?) and Greek, aka spinach & feta, hummus, and make the prettiest wraps!

Yay!

Beet & Ricotta Hummus

From Bon Apetit.

• 1 baseball-sized red beet (about 6 ounces), scrubbed
• 1 15 1/2 ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1/3 cup tahini, well mixed
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup ricotta
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 teaspoon (or more) kosher salt
• 10 cranks freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Wrap the beet tightly in foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake 60-70 minutes, until a fork slides easily into the center of the beet. Let rest, unwrapped, until cool enough to handle.

While you wait, process the chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, ricotta, garlic, salt, pepper, and coriander in a food processor until smooth.

Once the beet has cooled, wrap it in paper towel and rub firmly to remove all the skin. Trim off the root end, and any remaining base of the greens. Cut beet into 8 large pieces and add to the mixture in the food processor, processing until smooth again. Taste, and add any additional salt if desired.

Serve with bread/toasted baguette/crackers, and garnish with mint leaves, poppy seeds, or olive oil if desired. Can be stored in the fridge up to 4 days.