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Beets & Ricotta Salad With Crunchy Dukkah

Chef Stephen Kolavo

Stephen Kolavo Chef of Eastern Kille
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I was a young cook working at my first professional kitchen in Chicago, an exceptional restaurant called Quiote, a place that focused on utilizing modern technique and aesthetic to highlight Mexican ingredients. After a couple weeks of being on the team, my chef encouraged me to work on a dish. The only parameter was beets. I’ll spare you the details, but I went through countless iterations until I ended up with this: roasted beets vacuum sealed in a spiced pickling liquid of agave and tamarind. Little tiny perfectly diced apples vacuum sealed with lemon juice and lime juice blended with a habanero.* A crunchy mixture of tostada crumbs, homemade tajin, and popped amaranth. This all sat on a dollop of ricotta (smeared on the plate perfectly of course) whipped with a mixture of three different types of chiles, honey, and lemon zest. The final touch was a garnish of five leaves of red veined sorrel. A little complicated, right?

Imagine writing that recipe. But after weeks of research & development, I had my first dish on the menu and I will never ever forget the feeling of accomplishment and empowerment that gave me.

I think that the recipe that I wrote for you is the embodiment of my journey in the kitchen. Since that dish, I’ve developed a personal philosophy for my food. I want it to appear simple but have the ingredients creatively manipulated in such a way that makes the diner ask, “why is this so good?”

Now don’t get me wrong, my version at a restaurant might have a few extra spices in the dukkah, some horseradish in the ricotta, some weird vinegar instead of lemon juice, and an oil derived from some ridiculous process of heating up and straining an aioli I made and didn’t like.

I am still the same person I was at Quiote after all. But as odd as it may be, these are just things I have in my pantry.
I believe in this recipe more than I ever believed in myself back then. Writing this all down made me believe in myself now more than I did when I signed up for this competition.

Maybe thisrecipe seems difficult, but I think most worthwhile things are. And here’s the kicker: we make up all of the rules. I gave you some guidelines to break the rules. You can even break those. Buy some beets, buy some cheese, buy some crunchy stuff. Believe in yourself. See where it takes you.

*The vacuum sealing process helps the cell structure of the main product to pull in the liquid

Beets & Ricotta Salad With Crunchy Dukkah

  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 1 hour & 15 minutes
  • Serving Size: 2-4 Servings

Ingredients

For the Beets

  • 2 lbs of golden beets
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • Lemon, olive oil, and salt to taste

For the Ricotta

  • 1 ½ cup whole milk ricotta
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • Black pepper to taste

For the Dukkah

  • ¼ cup crushed Gardetto’s rye chips
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds
  • 1 ½ tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • ¾ tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes
  • ¼ tsp salt

Instructions

  1. Roast the beets. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Depending on their size, lay groups
    of 3-5 beets on a sheet of aluminum foil. Divide olive oil, salt and pepper among the
    groups, give them a little rub down, and wrap securely. Add another layer of foil if it feels
    like the right thing to do. Place your little happy packages on a sheet tray and pop into
    the oven. Check after 45 minutes (sometimes I flip them at this point), but typically these
    take between 1 hour and 1 hour and 15 minutes. Beets are properly cooked when you
    can slide a fork in with relative ease. Unwrap your beets and allow to cool to room temp.
    Once cooled, they should be pretty easy to peel. Some do this by hand, others use a
    clean towel to scrub off the skin. Follow your heart. Cut down to your desired size. For
    me, it’s about the size of half my thumb. Dress with some lemon juice, olive oil, and salt
    until it tastes just right. Set aside
  2. Season the ricotta. You may whip this in a stand mixer or food processor, but no need
    to get too crazy. A bowl and a good spoon will do the trick. Mix your ricotta, olive oil, salt,
    and pepper until nicely combined. Adjust the seasoning to your liking. A squeeze of
    lemon is nice if you’re feeling a little zippy. Set aside.
  3. Make your dukkah. Here’s the deal, this part can be toilsome. Keep reading the recipe
    for some hacks. In a dry pan over medium heat, toast your sesame seeds. Once they
    have a little color or start jumping around in the pan, set aside. Next, toast the coriander,
    cumin, and fennel seeds until they pick up some color and smell divine. Set aside
    separate from your sesame seeds. In a spice grinder or blender (or mortar and pestle if
    you have cool things), crack the seeds down to your desired size. I like them nice and
    chunky. If your rye chips aren’t crushed enough, you can give them a quick ride in the
    blender machine at this point. Otherwise, combine everything and you have dukkah!
  4. Assemble. Here comes the easiest part. Big plate. Ricotta down. Smear it all over.
    Beets on top of that (There’s probably some pooling liquid in the beets at this point.
    Leave it behind or bring it along for the ride. It’s probably very tasty). Sprinkle with
    dukkah and voilà, Roasted Beet Salad with Ricotta and Crunchy Dukkah.

Cooking Tips

Here are a couple tips and tricks you can use for this recipe.

Make it easier

  • Buy roasted beets. Canned, bagged, pickled. All very delicious.
  • Roast something easier like carrots or sweet potatoes.
  • Skip making the dukkah. Buy it online or from the store. Crunch up your favorite snack
    and sprinkle your preferred spice blend. Crush up some nuts. The world is your oyster
    (you could even use oyster crackers).

Make it healthier

  • Yogurt is an excellent substitute for ricotta. Low-fat or full-fat is up to you. Leave it plain or season it the same as the cheese.
  • Skip the Gardetto’s. They’re fun and delicious, but we don’t necessarily need that sodium packed, highly processed goodness in our salads.
  • When in doubt, decrease the amount of olive oil and salt. The recipe will function fairly well with less. There’s enough going on in there.

Here’s the beauty of cooking in my mind. This recipe is just my splatter on a canvas using a
couple basic elements. Fatty creamy (ricotta), vegetal substance (beets), flavorful crunchy (Dukkah). Here are a couple tips and tricks you can use for this recipe.

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