Beetroot Carpaccio with Figs, Meringue & Yuzu Pearls
Nothing says Indian Summer like beetroot carpaccio with fresh figs…!
Equipment
- mandoline
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- zester
- piping bag
- baking paper
- Cooking ring
- Kitchen tweezers
Ingredients
- 4 small organic cooked beets
- 60 g pearl couscous
- 4 fresh figs
- 20 g feta
- 1 egg
- 20 g icing sugar
- Yuzu pearls
- almond flakes
- saffron
- fennel seeds
- 1 orange
- Atsina cress
- high-quality olive oil
- white balsamic vinegar
Instructions
Meringues
- Preheat the oven to just under 100°C (any higher and the meringues will brown, while you want them to keep their delicate pink). Take the oven tray out of the oven in advance.
- Separate the egg and whisk the white in a grease-free bowl until it begins to hold shape. Add the icing sugar and continue whisking until glossy. Then open the packet of cooked beets and use the beet juice to tint your meringue pink. Add the juice little by little, whisking in between, until you reach your desired shade.
- Transfer the meringue to a piping bag and pipe small drops onto a tray lined with baking paper. Bake for about an hour, or until the meringues lift easily from the paper.
Beet Carpaccio
- When the meringues are nearly done, cook the pearl couscous according to the package instructions, adding a few threads of saffron to the water. Drain and drizzle with good olive oil.
- Slice the beets into thin rounds using a mandoline. Arrange them on four plates.
- With a cooking ring, place two small mounds of saffron couscous on each plate. Add a few wedges of fresh fig.
- Toast the almond flakes briefly in a dry pan.
- Drizzle a little white balsamic vinegar over the carpaccio. Crumble feta on top, then add the beet meringues, fennel seeds, and toasted almonds.
- Use a zester to finish with strips of orange zest and tweezers to add yuzu pearls and Atsina cress.