Tempura Beet Rollatini With Balsamic Gastrique

Submitted by Sharon123

"Chef Tal says, "This is a fun recipe. White balsamic has a milder taste than the more common dark kind, and good when boiling beets because it doesn't compete with the flavor of the vegetable. Once beets are cooked, you slice them thin, fill them with tofu ricotta, dip them in tempura batter and fry them. The red bleeds through the batter for a pretty presentation. and they're just delicious", in his cookbook The Conscious Cook."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 35mins
• Ingredients: 15
• Yields: 24 rollatini
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1 large red beet, scrubbed
• 1⁄4 cup white balsamic vinegar
• 8 ounces firm tofu, pressed well in a towel to remove most of moisture
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons nutritional yeast flakes
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried granulated onion
• 1⁄2 lemon, juice of
• 1⁄2 cup thick cashew cream (Cashew Cream(Regular and Thick))
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons white miso
• sea salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1 cup tempura mix (vegan if possible)
• 1 tablespoon fresh chives, minced
• vegetable oil

• Balsamic Gastrique

• 2 cups balsamic vinegar
• 1⁄4 cup sugar

directions

1. Place the beet in a pan and cover with water. Add vinegar, and bring to a boil. Cook until tender when pierced with a fork, about 40 minutes. Place the tofu, nutritional yeast, onion, lemon juice, cashew cream, miso paste, 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/8 teaspoons pepper in a food processor and blend until the mix has the texture of ricotta cheese.
2. In a small bowl, prepare the tempura batter according to the package directions, then fold in chives, 1 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
3. Hold the cooked beet under cold running water until it's cool. Peel the skin. Slice the beet paper thin on a mandoline(a cheese slicer may work too). Dry the slices with paper towels and season on both sides with salt and pepper. Spread a small mounded strip of the tofu ricotta mixture on one end of each beet slice and roll up, using a dab of the ricotta mixture to hold the roll closed if needed.
4. Pour 2 inches of the oil into a large, heavy pot and heat to 375*F. Holding a roll together, dip in the tempura batter, coating completely, and carefully lower into the oil. Fry the rolls, a few at a time to avoid crowding the pot, until well browned and crisp, about 2 minutes.
5. Remove to a pan or plate lined with paper towels and set aside in a warm oven until all the rolls are fried.
6. Serve hot, drizzled with the Balsamic Gastrique.
7. To make the gastrique, in a small sauccepan over medium high heat, stir together the vinegar and sugar. Cook until syrupy and reduced by two thirds, about 15 minutes.

Reviews

[TasteTester]

Oh, wow! This recipe is a 10-star for sure. I was curious how tofu ricotta would taste and it was so delicious, lighter than milk ricotta and bursting with flavor from all its ingredients. My only mistake was thinking I could cut the beets thin enough with a super-sharp knife. I cooked two beets just to be sure I could get enough thin slices but I only ended up with 7-8 that I could roll. I took the other slices and assembled them "oreo-style," putting filling inside two slices. They turned out just fine and it's a good alternative if someone doesn't have a mandoline. The tempura gave just the right amount of crunch without covering up the flavor of the rollatinis, and the glaze was perfect and added just a touch of sweetness. I had to make the glaze twice -- the first time I was assembling the rolls at the same time, and it quickly went from being slightly syrupy to too sticky and thick to drizzle, so the second time I gave it my full attention and got it off the heat just as it was thickening. It did take me longer than the stated time to get this from start to finish, but it was worth it. I'll be serving this next time with a main dish that doesn't take a lot of attention, such as a roast, which will free up plenty of time to make these. This recipe is going in my Best of the Best 2010 recipe cookbook -- it's spectacular!