Beets <3

Beets with cheese is a classic California combination. In our cookbook you will find a lovely recipe for Beets & Burrata with cara cara oranges, tarragon, and pistachio pistou—perfect for a Valentine’s Day lunch date or night-in. There’s so many different directions to go in, but for the last 10 years we have roasted our beets the same way and it’s always served with pistachio pistou. We’ve had beets with lavender goat cheese and tangerines, gorgonzola dolce with persimmons, or fresh figs and vincotto. This year is the first year we are doing beets with a different sauce! It’s good to switch it up for creative purposes, but this version is our fave. It’s tried and true and sure to win over anyone afraid of beets.

Of course, you can buy cooked or marinated beets from the grocery store, do it if you have to, but some options add a lot of sugar and tend to go heavy on the acid to mask that earthy flavor—a substance called geosmin, responsible for that fresh soil scent. If you’re going to buy roasted beets find ones that use only water and salt, this way you can control where the sweetness and acidity comes in. We like roasting our beets with a whisper of red wine vinegar and sunflower oil, water, salt, and fresh thyme to balance the earthy-ness. Beets are sweet on their own, especially when you pair it with fruit, but the pistachio pistou is the kicker.

The name comes from the Provençal word pisto or pistou, meaning "pounded" or "crushed" (from the Latin pistare), referring to the traditional method of preparing the sauce with a mortar and pestle.

You’ll find yourself wanting to dunk bread in our pistou and putting it all over your sandwiches, or pouring it on top of a mortadella pizza. It has two types of vinegar, shallot, garlic, a tiny bit of agave (or your preferred sweetener), s&p, and olive oil. The key is to toast the pistachios until they are fragrant and golden brown before making the pistou.

Beets & Burrata | Serves 4 | vegetarian, gluten-free *vegan sub avocado for cheese