Don’t believe anyone who says plants can’t taste frigging amazing.
I’ll avoid using profanity here, but this is a topic I feel strongly about: when you treat vegetables the right way - impart them with lots of flavor and layer textures - they become something else entirely. This sandwich builds on the classic combination of beets and goat cheese, adding crispy fennel, sweet fig balsamic and Shab's Sauce Red Pepper Romesco.
In typical The Kitchen fashion, it's a flavor party: it’s creamy, crunchy, garlicky, savory, earthy, sweet and smokey. Make sure you roast plenty of beets and save the leftovers to use throughout the week - for these sandwiches, in bowls, salads, over labne with za’atar as a snack.
We will also be making the most of our beets and avoiding food waste by including the beet greens in our sandwich once they’ve been sauteed with plenty of garlic first, of course.
Warm Roasted Vegetable Goat Cheese & Romesco Sandwich
1 SANDWICH
2 slices of good bread, like Amy’s Rye Sourdough
1 large bunch beets and it’s greens, and for this recipe 2 small roasted beets, cut into thin rounds and large handful beet greens
1-2 tbsps of goat cheese
3-4 flesh cloves of garlic
Roughly 1/2 cup thinly sliced fennel bulb and a few leafy fronds
Fig Balsamic
Freshly ground black pepper
Kosher
Extra virgin olive oil
If you can find pre-roasted, peeled beets feel free to use those. Otherwise, if you are roasting your beets, start here. Preheat your oven to 400F. In the meantime, cut the beets from their large stalks and greens, setting those aside. Rinse the beets thoroughly of any excess dirt, and then trim both the top and bottom so they are flat on both ends. Peel the beets, as this makes them faster to use up once roasted.
Place peeled beets in a small baking dish and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle with a good pinch of kosher salt, some freshly ground black pepper and toss to coat. Add just shy of 1/4 cup water to the baking dish, cover and put in the oven for up to 60 mins, or until completely fork tender but not mushy. I love checking my vegetables using a cake tester.
While the beets are in the oven, cut beet greens from the thick, tough stalks. Thoroughly rinse them and then spin dry in a salad spinner or gently dry in a clean kitchen / paper towel. Chop 3-4 fresh garlic cloves and set aside. We will use a large handful of the greens per 1 sandwich. Wrap any remaining greens in a dry, clean towel and place in the fridge.
Take your goat cheese out so it comes to room temperature and becomes easier to spread.
Trim off the bottom end of the white fennel bulb. Then using a mandolin or a sharp knife, cut roughly 1/2 cup of very thin rounds. Remove a few of the fuzzy fronds to add to the sandwich as well. Set aside. (Use the rest of the fennel during the week for this simple salad.)
When the beets are ready, remove from the oven and carefully lift the foil, being careful of the hot steam. Leave the beets in the baking dish uncovered to cool.
In a pan, heat olive oil until shimmering and hot. Add garlic and allow to cook in the oil for 30 seconds. Then add clean beet greens, stir to coat, adding a splash more olive oil if you want. Cook a few minutes until greens are wilted but still bright green. Move all garlic and greens to a small plate. Leave the pan on the heat to crisp your bread. Raise to a medium high heat.
Brush your two pieces of bread with oil or butter on one side. Add to the same pan the greens were in and over a high heat allow to get very crispy and golden. Add butter or oil to the side facing up and then add back to the pan with that side facing down, allowing it to also get golden and crispy.
When the bread is done, remove pan from the heat. Add 1 tbsp of plain goat cheese to both pieces of bread and spread thin. To one piece of bread, add 1 tsp of Shab’s Sauce Roasted Red Pepper Romesco and spread, mixing it into the goat cheese. On top of that, place thinly sliced rounds of roasted beet - roughly 2 small beets or 1 large per sandwich.
Add thinly sliced fennel and fennel fronds. Carefully drizzle with a bit of fig balsamic. Top with the second piece of bread, cut in half using a sharp knife and serve immediately!