Sexy Fish recipe: beetroot and whipped feta salad

Sexy Fish is more than just a provocative name. Since it took over the corner of Mayfair's Berkley Square last year, Richard Caring's latest restaurant has been attracting attention for its top-notch seafood, but that's by no means the only delicious thing that you can enjoy there. We love this light, tangy summer salad.

Now, try your luck at recreating it at home.

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Sexy Fish’s marinated beetroot with whipped feta, black olives and hazelnuts

Serves 4


Ingredients

4 (approximately 500g) uncooked beetroot (classic red, chioggia and golden if possible)

30g black olives, stoned and cut into pieces

30g hazelnuts

150g small salad leaves

½ small bunch mint, with the leaves removed from the stalk

For the beetroot pickle

250ml rice wine vinegar

100g caster sugar

2 star anise

Maldon salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

For the beetroot pickle, put all the ingredients into a saucepan, bring to a boil for a minute or so until the sugar has dissolved. Take off the heat and let it cool before use. Remove the star anise just before serving.

For the dressing

125ml extra virgin olive oil

75ml rice wine vinegar

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

To make the dressing, blend all the ingredients in a small bowl and stir until it is well mixed.

For the whipped feta

200g feta

200g tofu, firm

40g extra virgin olive oil

Maldon salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

For the whipped feta, cut the feta and tofu into small pieces. Mix both together in a blender until smooth and add the olive oil, black pepper and Maldon salt flakes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C / Gas Mark 4. Put the hazelnuts onto a baking tray and roast them in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, until golden, mixing them around regularly to ensure that they roast evenly and don’t burn. Watch them closely, as they tend to go bitter if over-roasted. If the hazelnuts have skins on them these can be removed after roasting by putting the roasted nuts into a jam jar, sealing it and shaking vigorously.

Wash the beetroot in their skins, put them into a large saucepan and cover them entirely with lightly salted water; bring to a boil and cook for about 30 minutes until just tender (cooking time depends on the size of the beetroot). Make sure that the beetroot is constantly covered with water and add more cold water if necessary during the cooking process. Once cooked, remove the beetroot from the pan and peel them while still warm. Cut them into thin discs, approximately 5mm thick, and pour the beetroot pickle over them to marinate them.

When you are ready to serve, lightly dress the small salad leaves with the dressing. Spread the whipped feta thinly onto a serving dish, top with the marinated pieces of beetroot, neatly place the dressed small salad leaves on top and finish with black olives, hazelnuts and mint leaves.