Roasted Beet and Pepita Tapenade

My childhood friend Jim recently shared a recipe with me for a roasted beet spread he has been making for his family.  I’m a huge fan of roasted beets and have been known to convert more than a few formerly beet-averse folks into beet lovers with my roasted beet salad.  I decided to have a closer look at the shared recipe and see if I could modify it to work for me…and maybe for you.  Because I want you to love beets!

The shared recipe contained a slice of wheat bread (tossed that!), some walnuts (shared with a nut-intolerant friend so tossed those, too) but was otherwise pretty terrific just as it was.  Instead of using walnuts, I used pumpkin seeds, or pepitas, and pine nuts.  If you aren’t a fan of pine nuts, just double the quantity of pepitas.  It will be slightly less creamy but still incredible on a sandwich, served with crackers or in a salad with goat cheese.

To make the salad shown in the photos, I used a food ring and layered beet tapenade and goat cheese, pressing down between each layer to compact it.  It works best if you chill it for a few minutes before removing the food ring.  When serving this on a bed of greens, I found it unnecessary to add any additional salad dressing.  Good stuff!

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Roasted Beet and Pepita Tapenade

Author Johnna

Ingredients

• 3 large roasted beets (about 12-16 oz.)
• 1/4 cup pepitas
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1-2 cloves garlic , adjust based on your taste
• dash of sea salt

Instructions

To roast beets:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Wash beets and trim off the greens. It is not necessary to peel the beets.
3. Toss with just a tiny bit of olive oil and place in a baking dish.
4. Roast for 35-40 minutes or until fork-tender.

To make tapenade:

1. Combine all ingredients in bowl of food processor fitted with "S" blade. Process until all ingredients are finely chopped and come together into a tapenade.
2. Refrigerate until ready to serve.