Beetroot, Fregola & Feta Salad

It’s been a lovely start to March (ok, today is a bit of a chilly reminder of past months BUT generally - glass half full - generally speaking March has skipped in). Cherry trees in gardens are blossoming, hawthorn bushes in the local Commons are flecked with white and the blackbirds are singing in the evenings. You can feel the awakening and I’m loving the longer days.

All coinciding with the end of an intensive (and enjoyable) design project at work so it really does feel like stepping into the light.

And, of course, it’s now time to start sowing seeds for the garden. Hurrah! This year I’ve invested in a propagator to get some tricky seeds germinating. I’m talking in particular about chillies. Last year by the time my chilli seeds has decided to grow and produce fruit it was October and the few chillies just didn’t really ripen. So I’ve now got some chilli seeds, tomato seeds and parsley sitting snugly on a heated bed on a windowsill. Fingers crossed. I’ve also sowed some pretty sweet pea and night-scented stock along with glorious broad beans, kale, chervil, chard and beetroot in the small greenhouse unit I bought last year. Tomorrow more compost arrives and I’m toying with the idea of creating some raised beds. All fun planning.

While sowing the beetroot seeds (I LOVE beetroot) I remembered I had forgotten to share this colourful beetroot dish, variations of which I’ve made all year, swapping the fregola (also spelled as fregula) with Israeli couscous or a small pasta like orza or even pearl barley. In an ideal world you’d pick your own home grown beetroot and roast or boil them (wash them first gently then either cover in foil and roast or simmer until a knife pierces them easily) and enjoy the fruit of your labours. However you can now buy fresh beetroots fairly easily in supermarkets / markets both uncooked and cooked (often vacuum-packed and while freshly cooked have more flavour for sure, I have used vacuum-packed beets, making sure to season well and using a very punchy dressing). This dish is something that doesn’t need you to have ‘land’.

First a word about fregola / fregula which I only came across last year. It’s an ancient Sardinian speciality of coarsely ground semolina mixed with water to make this unique form of pasta. The resulting beads are toasted (traditionally they were sun dried) which gives them a nutty overtone. If you use Israeli couscous or a small pasta I’m told that if you toast them lightly before cooking you can mimic the nuttiness although to be honest I’ve not done that! I found a tub of fregola in a local deli and bought it before I knew exactly what it was, something I am prone to do but you gotta take all opportunities when you get them. This time it was a good buy (not all mystery purchases like this work out). Anyway do try and seek fregola out, it holds it shape better than the couscous and the slightly chewy texture is a great foil for the soft feta and tender beetroot. Enjoy.

Beetroot, Fregola & Feta Salad

Serves 2 - 3

125 g fregola
stock or water
(I often have homemade chicken stock in the fridge but vegetable stock and stock cubes are fine, as is plain water)
3 - 4 small beetroots - freshly dug from the garden if you’re lucky
1 handful of ripe cherry tomatoes
(again, lucky us, we had a bumper crop last summer)
1/4 red onion, finely sliced
zest of half a lemon
baby leaves spinach, chard, beetroot, rocket
80 g feta
salt & pepper
1 heaped tablespoon toasted walnuts or hazelnuts, chopped
vinaigrette dressing

Beetroot can be roasted or boiled. Young small beetroots are quicker to cook as well as sweeter than larger beets but work with what you have. Simply wash off any soil very gently, cut off leaves but not too close to the root and pop into a pan of boiling water making sure they are covered. Don’t scrape off the skin or cut off any small root tendrils or the base of the leaves at this stage as you’ll only cause the beetroot to ‘bleed’. When it is cooked after 20 - 30 mins simmering - check to see if cooked, they should be tender to pierce - remove and allow to cool enough to handle without swearing.

Wearing rubber gloves to protect your pretty hands, remove the beetroot skin (which will slip off easily if I'm honest), slice into wedges and toss in a couple tablespoons of a vinaigrette. A strong mustard dressing works well as does a dressing made with orange juice / olive oil or one which has some finely diced chilli added.

Cook the fregola in either stock or water (some say cook in plenty of boiling water like all pastas but I like to cover the pasta with the stock / water by about 2 cms, bring to boil and simmer for approx 10 - 12 mins. If the pasta absorbs the liquid too quickly add some more - obvious! - until the fregola is cooked, it should be chewy but not hard). Drain and allow to cool down, I prefer not to use it piping hot in this dish.

Drain, rinse and break up the feta. Sprinkle with the lemon zest.

Wash and dry the leaves.

Half the cherry tomatoes.

When the pasta has cooled to room temperature, build your salad in layers. Add more dressing to individual taste (I don’t like it drowning in dressing), season and toss.

Sprinkle with the toasted nuts.

Yum, yum.