This post is also available in: French
La Tartine Gourmande is a cookbook I’ve been spending a lot of time with ever since it came out in the spring. I’ve admired Béatrice Peltre’s blog for quite a while now, and it was the very thing that, almost three years ago, made me want to try my hand at writing about food. Béa’s vision is unmistakably hers, and her love for the ingredients and dishes that she prepares shows through in every photo and recipe. Out of all cookbooks on my shelf (editor’s note, the shelf is overloaded), this one has been the one I’ve read and reread most often and got an incredible amount of ideas from. Béa’s attention to detail and French approach to cooking is something I relate to very much. It’s no secret that us Russians are historically very drawn to anything French, like most of the world, really.
One thing I did here is make my own ricotta cheese, used to do it all the time when living in Russia. It is a surprisingly easy process that requires only two ingredients – milk and lemon juice. And the result is worlds away from the store-bought kind, so much richer and creamier. Since the original recipe calls for both goat and ricotta cheeses, I used raw goat’s milk from a local farm to make this ricotta.
Check out the book for more serious inspiration.
Beet Mille-Feuille
I slightly changed Béa’s recipe by adding radishes, basil oil, apple cider vinegar, and lemon zest to my homemade goat milk ricotta, eliminating goat cheese.
(makes 4)
1 1/2 cups freshly made goat milk ricotta cheese (good recipe here) or 1 cup ricotta cheese mixed with 1/2 cup soft goat cheese
3 radishes – chopped
3 tablespoons chopped chives
2 tablespoons basil oil (1/2 cup olive oil blended together with 1 cup basil leaves)
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
zest of 1 lemon
salt and freshly ground black pepper – to taste
3 red small to medium cooked beets – peeled
3 yellow small to medium cooked beets – peeled
handful of fresh greens or microgreens to serve
fresh basil for garnish (optional)
small handful of hazelnuts (optionally toasted)
In a bowl, mix cheese, radishes, chives, oil, vinegar, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Cut about 4 horizontal slices in each beet (you will have left over slices). You can use a ring mold about 2 3/4-inch wide by 2 1/4-inch tall to cut each slice with and then assemble the mille-feuille inside the ring mold. Or you can build the mille-feuille by simply placing a neat layer of cheese mixture on top of a beet slice, alternating colours. Use 4 beet slices per each mille-feuille, secure with a toothpick if needed. Refrigerate for a couple of hours before trimming. Use a very sharp knife to trim the mille-feuille to a square shape. Remove the toothpicks if using, optionally drizzle with olive oil and serve with microgreens or fresh greens and hazelnuts if you like. Garnish with basil leaves on top.
glutenfreehappytummy.com says
how gorgeous! i love the colors!
Julia | JuliasAlbum.com says
Wow, this look very elegant! I can’t even believe this creation has beets in it!
thelittleloaf says
What a beautiful dish – this would be perfect for a dinner party.
I’ve never made my own ricotta but would absolutely love to try.
Tanya says
I’m making it for upcoming dinner party, very excited!
Alicia says
So beautiful, wow!
Suzanne Perazzini says
This is an incredibly beautiful dish and creating a feast for the eyes is half a recipe in my opinion.
Eva says
I love Bea’s work, must be time to buy her book. Gorgeous post, nicely done!
Sara says
Wow, gorgeous! This is such an impressive dish, and looks so delicious! I love beets with cheese.
Joan Nova says
Absolutely stunning presentation … almost too beautiful to eat. (almost)
jess says
haha I did a double take when I saw this because I was nearly sure I saw it once before (in bea’s promo video). well done! it looks just like she made it!
sous chef sean says
Always loved beets, but this combo sounds delish! Wonderful pix of the layers, and the colors really bring it to life.
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Such a beautiful dish!
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Anonymous says
Wow, It looks great. Did you boil the beets or roasted them in a foil?
Melanie DUDLEY says
Shucks I can’t get access to the goat cheese ricotta recipe. Could you please send?
Anya says
Hi Melanie,
Here it is: https://www.mynewroots.org/site/2012/02/homemade-goats-milk-ricotta-on-toast-with-roasted-fruits-2/
Melanie says
Can you use the same recipe with cows milk? Thank you!
Anya says
Hi Melanie,
Yes, I think so!