And the beet goes on...

I for one can’t wait, but I know that beetroot is a bit like Marmite – people either love it or hate it.

Beetroot is an extremely versatile ingredient – ideal for use in a wide range of recipes from starters and dips to nutritious salads, tasty snacks, filling family meals, winter warmers and even cakes and desserts – adding a distinctive flavour and gorgeous splash of colour, whatever the dish.

These recipes used pre-cooked beetroot but if you want to use fresh, chop off the leaves and stalks and boil for an hour with the skins on. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes and then peel off the skin.

Reginette pasta with beetroot & sour cream sauce

Inspired by Nigella Lawson and her love for reginette pasta, this pretty dish looks decadent but is actually deliciously healthy. The beetroot sauce turns the pasta a pretty pink hue, while the rocket adds a splash of green and a fresh crispness. And if you fancy something a bit more indulgent, try dressing the salad prior to adding the pasta and topping it off with parmesan shavings.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

280g Reginette pasta

4 shallots

2 cloves garlic

1 pack cooked beetroot dipped in vinegar

2tsp olive oil

200ml low-fat sour cream

2 large handfuls rocket

Small bunch chives, finely chopped

Salt and pepper

To serve (optional)

Your favourite salad dressing or a drizzle of oil

Parmesan shavings

Method

Boil a kettle of water, pour into a large saucepan and bring back to the boil. Cook the pasta according to the pack instructions.

While the pasta is cooking roughly chop the shallots, garlic and beetroot. Heat the oil in a saucepan and sauté the shallots for five to six minutes until they start to soften. Add the chopped garlic and cook for another two minutes.

Take off the heat and add the beetroot and sour cream to the pan.

Blend the mixture using a hand blender or food processor to a coarse sauce. Taste and season well with salt and black pepper

Once the pasta is cooked, drain and return to the pan. Pour the warm sauce over the pasta and toss to coat the pasta well.

In a separate bowl dress the rocket with a little olive oil or your favourite dressing (optional).

Scatter a little rocket over each plate then top with the beetrooty pasta.

Drizzle over any sauce left in the pan and sprinkle over the chives.

Top with the remaining rocket and a few shavings of parmesan (optional).

Russian beetroot, radish and potato salad

This delicious salad combines quartered radishes with cubes of potato and beetroot and slices of boiled egg and chopped gherkin in a mayonnaise sauce and makes a great lunch dish on its own or as an accompaniment to Shahsyk lamb kebabs (marinated in lemon, paprika, onion, garlic and bay).

Serves: 4

Ingredients

For the salad:

800g waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes

4 eggs

12 mixed radish, quartered

4 gherkins cut into disks

2 cooked beetroot, chopped

Salt and pepper

For the dressing:

Small bunch dill

3 anchovy fillets

8tbsp mayonnaise

Method

Put the potatoes into a saucepan of salted water and bring to the boil. Simmer for eight to ten minutes until they are tender. Drain and tip into a large bowl. While the potatoes are cooking put the eggs in a saucepan and just cover them with water. Bring to the boil over a medium heat and simmer for four minutes.

Drain the eggs and run under cold water to cool the shell before gently peeling the shell away.

To make the sauce chop the dill then chop the anchovies very small and mash with the side of the knife as you go. Mix the mayonnaise, dill and anchovies together.

Put the potatoes, radish and gherkins into a large bowl, tip in the mayonnaise and gently combine until everything is well coated.

Slice the eggs into quarters. Tip the potato salad into a serving bowl, scattering through the beetroot as you go.

Top with the egg and scatter over a few remaining dill sprigs.

Beetroot chocolate brownies, with a chilli option

Makes: 16 brownies

Ingredients

250g dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa solids)

100g butter, plus a little extra for greasing the tin

250g cooked beetroot, drained

3 eggs

250g light brown sugar

150g ground almonds

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 tsp chilli powder (optional)

Icing sugar to dust

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Prepare a 23cm square baking tin by greasing all over with a little butter. Line with a wide strip of baking paper, leaving two “tails” at either side to help you lift the cooked brownie out of the tin.

Break up the chocolate into squares and put into a heat-proof bowl along with the butter. Set over a pan of barely simmering water and allow to gently melt, stirring to mix together as it does so.

Tip the beetroot into a food processor and process to a puree, pausing the motor to scrape down the sides if necessary.

Add the melted chocolate and butter and the eggs and whizz again until combined. Again, scrape the sides down, then add the sugar, ground almonds, cocoa, baking powder, vanilla extract and chilli powder (if using) and process until you are left with a smooth batter.

Pour into the prepared baking tin and bake for about 30 minutes until the top is set and the brownie is starting to pull a little away from the sides of the tin.

A skewer inserted into the centre will come out fairly clean but still a touch sticky – don’t worry if it still seems a little soft as it will firm up on cooling.

Remove from the oven, place on a cooling rack and allow to go cold in the tin.

Using the baking paper tails, ease the brownie from the tin and cut into 16 squares. Dust the surface with a little icing sugar.

For more information and recipes visit www.lovebeetroot.co.uk