“ S P I N - PA I N T E D ” B E E T

D RAW I N G I N S P I RATI O N F R O M C O NTE M P O RARY ART AN D M U S I C

“
Cooking is poetry and an act of love, not something
that you have to do. You do it if you love it, so make it as
pleasurable to make as it is to eat.

Creating a vegetarian meal with all the smoky, caramelized flavors of a meat dish
takes a little patience and the right techniques. Massimo brings out the umami flavor
(a “fifth taste” that encapsulates salty, meaty flavors like steak, mushroom, anchovy,
and aged cheese) of the beets here by adding layer after layer of various sauces,
CH. each bringing a slightly different element to the dish: Roasted red and yellow pepper
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sauces offer up acidity and sweetness as well as vibrant color; a potato-based
sauce adds richness and starch (the rosemary and garlic powders lend a roasted
flavor despite the potatoes being boiled); a green “chlorophyll” sauce made with
parsley and other fresh herbs brings a bright minerality and fresh verdance to
the palate.

All these flavors are plated in a manner reminiscent of one of Massimo’s favorite
artists, Damien Hirst, famous for his spin table–made paintings. Here you will splash
down each of the sauces in whatever way strikes you, creating controlled chaos on
the plate with all the right flavors to accent the beet at its center. The sauces in this
recipe can be used to enhance the savory quality of virtually any vegetable, particu-
larly other hearty winter roots, or even other meats and fish.

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 “ S P I N - PA I N T E D ” B E E T

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M AS S I M O B OT T U R A | M AST E R C L AS S
 Beautiful, Psychedelic, Spin-Painted Beet, not Flame-Grilled
Serves 8

In the time it takes for your beets to roast, you can easily make all of the supporting
sauces (roast the peppers first so you can make their respective sauces while the
beets are monopolizing the oven). If you prefer, you can make all the sauces up to a
day ahead of serving and rewarm all but the herb sauce before plating. Should you
opt to make the ancillary elements—smoked olive oil, rosemary powder, and garlic
powder—rather than buy them, prepare them up to a week in advance, which will
make day-of cooking easier.

I NG R E DI E NTS FOR TH E R E D AN D YE LLOW PE PPE R SAUCE S

3 red bell peppers

3 yellow bell peppers
2½ cups (600 milliliters) apple cider vinegar, divided in two
Pinch of granulated sugar
1 ounce (30 grams) extra-virgin olive oil (for use with the red pepper sauce
only), plus more
CH. 1 ounce (30 grams) smoked olive oil (see below; for use with the yellow
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pepper sauce only)

I NG R E DI E NTS FOR TH E B E ETS

8 large beets, scrubbed clean

Flaky sea salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
Smoked olive oil (recipe below)
Aged balsamic vinegar
Rosemary blossoms or other small edible flowers

I NG R E DI E NTS FOR TH E “ROASTE D” POTATO SAUCE

6 medium starchy potatoes

Flaky sea salt
4¼ cups (1 liter) whole milk
Pinch of finely ground dried rosemary (recipe below)
Pinch of homemade garlic powder (recipe below)
Extra-virgin olive oil

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 I NG R E DI E NTS FOR TH E H E R B “CH LOROPHYLL” SAUCE

4 cups mixed green herbs (mostly flat-leaf parsley mixed with mint, basil,
thyme, or other mild, tender herbs, such as helichrysum and melissa, if
available)
Extra-virgin olive oil
Flaky sea salt

1 Roast the red and yellow peppers. Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Place
the red and yellow peppers on a Silpat- or parchment paper–lined rimmed
baking sheet, and roast until their skins are blackened all over, about 40 minutes.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven, and increase the oven temperature to
400°F (200°C). Use tongs to transfer the peppers to a large bowl. Cover the bowl
with plastic wrap, and let the peppers steam, five to ten minutes.

2 Roast the beets. While the peppers steam, place each beet in a large square
of foil, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, and drizzle with some olive oil. Wrap each
beet tightly in the foil, then place the beets in the oven, and roast for two hours.

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3 Prepare the pepper sauces. Uncover the bowl of peppers. Use your fingers
to peel off and discard the skins and the stems. Rinse the peeled peppers
in a bowl of water to remove all the seeds. Transfer the red peppers to a cutting
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board, and set the yellow peppers aside in a bowl. Finely chop the red peppers, and
transfer them to a medium skillet. Pour half the vinegar over the peppers, season
with a pinch of sugar, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, stirring and
shaking the pan often, until all the vinegar just evaporates. Scrape the peppers into
a blender, and process until smooth. Add the olive oil and some cold water until
the sauce is thick but still thin enough to pour, like syrup. Pass the sauce through
a chinois, or fine sieve, and discard the solids. Scrape the red pepper sauce into
a storage container, and refrigerate for up to one day. Repeat the process with the
yellow peppers, the remaining vinegar, another pinch of sugar, the smoked olive oil,
and more cold water.

4 Make the “roasted” potato sauce. Place the potatoes in a large saucepan
and cover with cold water by 1 inch, and season the water with a pinch of salt.
Bring to a boil over high heat, and cook until soft enough that the potatoes yield
when pressed with the underside of a fork (don’t prick the potatoes with the fork).
Drain the potatoes, then let cool until easy enough to handle. When cooled, peel the
potatoes (save the peels for making the vegetarian broth in the recipe for Passatelli
With Broth of Everything on page 21). Pass the potatoes through a potato ricer

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 set over a saucepan, and warm the milk in a separate pan. Add the warm milk
to the potatoes, along with the dried rosemary and garlic powder, and stir until
smooth. Drizzle in some olive oil to taste. Scrape the potato mixture into a blender,
and process until smooth, adding spoonfuls of water to thin the sauce until it’s the
consistency of syrup. Season with salt and more olive oil and rosemary to taste.
Scrape the potato sauce into a storage container, and refrigerate for up to one day.

5 Make the herb “chlorophyll” sauce. Bring a large saucepan of water to a

boil. Prepare a bowl of ice-water on the side. Add the herbs to the boiling water,
cook for five seconds, then use a spider or slotted spoon to remove the herbs and
transfer immediately to the ice water, stirring to chill the herbs thoroughly. Remove
the herbs from the ice water, squeezing them lightly to remove excess water, and
transfer to a blender. Add the olive oil and a pinch of salt, along with enough ice
water to process the sauce until loose and the herbs are finely chopped, but not
super smooth. Pass the sauce through a chinois, or fine sieve, and discard the
solids. Scrape the herb sauce into a storage container and refrigerate for up to one
day.

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6 Prepare the beets. Remove the beets from the oven, unwrap from the foil, and
let cool slightly. Transfer the beets to a cutting board, and cut off each end so
you have a roughly 1 inch–thick (3 centimeter–thick) disk from the center. Using a 3
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inch–diameter (8 centimeter–diameter) round cutter, cut out the center of the beet
disk; reserve all the scraps for salads, snacking, or another use. Drizzle each beet
round with some of the smoked olive oil, and rub it evenly over the top with your
finger or a pastry brush. Sprinkle each with a pinch of salt.

7 Spin-paint and plate. When you’re ready to plate the dish, rewarm both
pepper sauces and the potato sauce in separate small saucepans; leave the
herb sauce chilled. Splash about 5 small spoonfuls of each the yellow pepper
sauce, red pepper sauce, potato sauce, and herb sauce around the plate, making as
much of a mess as you’d like. Place the beet round in the center of the plate, then
drizzle the balsamic vinegar around and all over the beet. Decorate the plate with 3
to 4 small rosemary blossoms to serve.

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 Smoked Olive Oil
You can buy smoked olive oils in gourmet grocery stores or you can make your own.
Pour as much extra-virgin olive oil as you’d like into a bowl. Your barbecue may have
a smoking tray; if not, fashion a tray out of aluminum foil and place it on the grill.
Using tongs, place a hot piece of charcoal inside the tray, then place some wood
chips directly on top of the charcoal. The wood will begin to smoke without catching
fire. Place the bowl of olive oil in the tray next to the smoking wood chips, and close
the top of the barbecue. Let the oil sit until it has absorbed your desired level of
smoked flavor and aroma (take care to not let it overheat). Once smoked, carefully
remove the bowl of oil from the grill and decant it into a glass bottle. Store the oil in
a dark place at room temperature for up to three months.

Dried Rosemary Powder

You can buy dried rosemary powder in gourmet grocery stores or you can make
your own. Spread fresh rosemary leaves on a parchment paper–lined baking sheet,
and cook in a 100°F (40°C) oven until the leaves are dry and brittle, about four
hours. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, and let the leaves cool completely.
Pulverize the rosemary leaves in a blender or spice/coffee grinder until finely ground.
Transfer the powder to an airtight container, and store for up to two months.
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Garlic Powder
You can buy high-quality garlic powder in gourmet grocery stores or you can make
your own. Place the unpeeled cloves from 3 heads of garlic in a small saucepan,
cover with cold milk, then bring to a boil; cook for one minute. Using a spider or
slotted spoon, remove the garlic from the milk, and discard the milk. Repeat blanch-
ing the garlic cloves in a new batch of milk two more times. After the final blanching,
let the garlic cloves cool until easy enough to handle, then peel off and discard the
skins. Transfer the garlic to a blender, and process until very smooth. Using a rubber
spatula, spread the garlic purée on a Silpat- or parchment paper–lined baking sheet
until it’s 1/16 inch thick (2 millimeters thick), and cook in a 140°F (60°C) oven until
the purée is dry and brittle, at least eight hours or overnight. Remove the baking
sheet from the oven, and let the paste cool completely. Pulverize the paste in a
blender or spice/coffee grinder until finely ground. Transfer the powder to an airtight
container, and store for up to two months.

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