Beetroot Tarte-Tatin with Oximeli Caramel and Xinomizithra

A tart like this I had seen in a book by Julie Jones and at the time I thought, what a great idea!

This one here I have changed it quite a bit though, as I use my own go to tart recipe, the caramel I made using Oximeli which is an ancient Greek potion, a mixture of honey and vinegar that is great for your guts, you can marinate meat and fish in, make salad dressing with it and even have it as a beverage if you dilute it with some sparkling water and ice.

Also served the tart with Xinomizithra, a beautiful fresh cheese from the island of Crete with a beautiful full taste..

So, the tart is sweet and sour... so it could be used as a first course in a dinner or even as a dessert or pre-dessert depending on if you put sugar in the dough, how much caramel you add, if you serve with this cheese or a stronger one, if you sprinkle the tart with some Oximeli when you serve it etc...

I would urge you to make it. Just out of curiosity!

Let's see what we will need

Diffuculty: 2 of 3

Duration:70 mins cooking, 1 hour prep and at least 2 hours wait

Serves:8-10

Ingredients

Ingredients for the tart you can find here

Ingredients for the filling

6-8 medium sized beets

3 red onions cut in thin slices

olive oil

2 cloves of garlic cut in thin slices

salt and pepper

1 tsp black sesame

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp dried oregano

For the caramel

30 g of water

60 g of Oximeli

30 g brown sugar

1 egg yolk and some water for the dough

For serving

Xinomizithra cheese or any soft Fresh tangy cheese

Oxilemi

fresh Oregano

Method

For the dough.

The ingredients are enough for two tarts. But please do it like that and store the second part of the dough in the freezer. It can last for 2-3 months and your next tart will happen a lot quicker.

Also a note. My kitchen was really hot.. 27 degrees. That is fairly hot for butter and the dough in general so make sure you handle it quickly and form it into a disk 2 cm in diameter bigger than the dish you will use and store it in the fridge on a pan till you need it.

For the filling

remove the skin from the beets with a sharp knife and boil them in boiling water for 20 minutes or as long as it takes them to be fully cooked.

Remove them from water, let them drain and cut them in 2 or 4 pieces depending on the size of the beets. Leave then in a bowl.

In the meantime in a pan we add the onions and the olive oil and we sweat them in medium heat. Add the spices and when the onions have dried down almost add the garlic and saute for a few more minutes.

Remove from heat and let them cool down in the bowl where we keep the beets.

For the caramel

Cover the base of the dish you are using for the tart tatin with parchment paper.

In a small pan we add all the ingredients for the caramel and let it boil. Do not stir. When it starts to thicken up remove from the heat and empty the caramel in the dish you will bake the tart in.

NOTE. In case you do not have Oximeli you can substitute it with 20 g of apple vinegar, and 40 g molasses especially from grapes or pomegranate.

For the tart

Preheat the oven at 170 fan forced.

Put the pieces of beetroot on the caramel with the dome face down into the caramel.

Thin out the onions on the beetroot and cover with the chilled dough. With the help of the back of a spoon tuck the sides of the dough disc in between the beets and the side of the dish.

With a pastry brush apply the eggwash on the dough and make a slit in the center of it for the steam to escape.

Bake for about 40 minutes...

Remove from the oven let it cool for 10 minutes and flip it over on a serving dish.

Let cool and serve with cheese, extra Oximeli and fresh oregano