Pancar ve beyaz peynir (beetroot, feta and pistachios) recipe

Pancar ve beyaz peynir (beetroot, feta and pistachios) in a bowl — Tangy-tender twist plays around with flavours common in Turkey and Cyprus

(Image credit: Haarala Hamilton)

I was inspired to make this dish while visiting my auntie's house in Cyprus, said Hasan Semay. It plays around with complementary flavours that are common in both Turkey and Cyprus. If I was being strictly traditional, I'd use a beyaz peynir cheese, which is fattier and smoother than feta. However, I love feta just as much, and it's much easier to find in Britain. This is a really clean and simple meze, no fuss. Serve it with plenty of bread.

Ingredients (serves four)

600g raw beetroot
1⁄2 a garlic clove
3 tbsp full-fat thick yogurt
50g feta, frozen
15g pistachios, crushed
couple of mint leaves
sea salt and pepper

To drizzle:

pomegranate molasses
olive oil

Method

Give the beetroots a little rinse under the tap just to make sure there's no dirt on them. Stick them in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Make sure the pot is big enough so the beetroots are fully submerged and have enough room to float without touching. Heavily season the water and bring to the boil.
Once boiling, drop the heat to medium. Simmer for about 40 minutes until they're soft enough to get a fork through with no resistance. Drain the beetroots while they're still hot and peel the skins under running cold water. Let the beetroots come down to a cool enough temperature to work with.
Grate all but one of the beetroots on the biggest side of a box grater. Gather all the grated beetroot and give it a good squeeze over the sink to remove all excess moisture. If you don’t do this, they'll leak into the yogurt and the dish will look weird.
Grate in the garlic and season the grated beetroot well with salt and pepper. Give it all a good mix. Add the yogurt, and taste. I normally season a little whenever I've put in a new ingredient, just to keep building flavour.
Plonk the mixture onto a plate and spread it out so it's even, then zigzag over pomegranate molasses and the oil.
Remember that beetroot we put aside? I want you to dice it into beautiful little cubes. Season that with oil and salt and pepper, then stick on top.
Microplane over the feta so it's soft and heaping. Scatter the pistachios, add the torn mint leaves and you're good to go.

Taken from Smoke & Seasoned Bread: Recipes from Türkiye by Hasan Semay.