I made this yesterday to take for a dinner for two and it was a hit - even with a photograph taken. I had two large beets (one wasn't quite large enough but ok), and I didn't have hazel nut oil so I chopped the nuts fairly small and added them to the dressing. The flavors and texture were amazing and, further, it is a beautiful presentation.
Beet and Goat Cheese Napoleons
These elegant appetizers come from Wolfgang Puck's Los Angeles restaurant Spago. Laurie Ochoa wrote about the groundbreaking chef in "The King of LA," part of our special Los Angeles issue (March 2010).
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Credit: Penny De Los Santos
and cut crosswise into 1⁄4"-thick slices
1 cup rice vinegar
1 cup sugar
9 oz. goat cheese, softened
4 tsp. minced fresh chives
4 tsp. minced fresh parsley
2 1⁄2 tsp. minced fresh thyme
1 tsp. freshly ground black
pepper
3⁄4 cup fresh orange juice
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1⁄4 tsp. orange zest
1 small shallot, minced
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
3 tbsp. hazelnut oil
Kosher salt, to taste
3 tbsp. chopped hazelnuts
1. Using a 2 5/8" round cookie cutter, cut out 20 of the beet slices; reserve scraps for another use (like borscht or a salad). In a 12" skillet, bring rice vinegar and sugar to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and, working in batches, cook beet slices, turning once, about 2 minutes. Transfer slices to a paper towel–lined baking sheet. Pat dry and let chill.
2. Stir goat cheese together with the chives, parsley, 2 tsp. thyme, and pepper in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Bring orange juice to a boil in a 1-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until reduced to 1⁄3 cup, 4–5 minutes. Let cool. Transfer juice to a bowl along with remaining thyme, balsamic vinegar, zest, and shallots. While whisking, drizzle in olive oil and hazelnut oil; whisk until smooth. Season vinaigrette with salt and pepper; let chill.
4. To serve: Put 1 beet slice on work surface; spread about 1 tbsp. cheese mixture over beet. Top cheese with another beet slice, pressing down so cheese oozes to edge. Repeat to create a stack with 4 layers of cheese between 5 beet slices. Make 4 stacks in all. Slice each stack into 4 wedges; transfer to 4 plates. Drizzle vinaigrette over each plate; garnish with nuts. Serve with mixed greens, if you like.
SERVES 4
Ratings & Reviews (5)
You may want to have extra goat cheese on hand as I didn't spread a lot of cheese in between the layers, but had to use double what was stated in the recipe. Warm the goat cheese up for a few seconds in the microwave to soften it; makes all the difference in the world as far a spreading it easily. Looks lovely, but seems to be no way to keep the cheese from being "stained" from the beets once cut. Excellent recipe: looks fabulous (even with the pink cheese) and tastes wonderful.
absolutely smashing, and looks soooo good. high end.
This is a fabulous recipe! I have made it twice, and have found a shortcut that really helps since I wanted to do flower-shaped cutouts. I sliced the beets without using a cookie cutter and did the rice vinegar/sugar step (#1). After blotting on paper towel, I then cut the beets with the flower-shaped cutter. In order to avoid having to spread the goat cheese mixture by hand, I rolled the goat mixture between parchment and put it in the freezer for a short time to make it firm. I was then able to cookie cut the goat cheese mixture to exactly the same size as the flower-shaped beets in order to layer them perfectly. The cold cheese also prevented a bit of the bleeding of the beet colour. Rave reviews at the dinner party.
I would like to try this without the vinegar/sugar step for a fresher as opposed to pickled flavor. I ate the leftover beet scraps the next day as salad with the dressing, goat cheese,and hazelnuts, which was fantastic! Definitely use a mandolin to slice the beets so that stacks are balanced.
Beet and Goat Cheese Napoleons
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