Puréed beetroot with yogurt & za'atar

This recipe is from Ottolenghi's Jerusalem book. The chilli, garlic, syrup and za'atar combine sweet and spiceness together wonderfully. I wanted to make a vegan version, but I was afraid using plain soy yogurt instead of Greek yogurt would make the purée too runny. Now that I know what it's supposed to taste like I'll have to experiment and see if 1/2 portion soy yogurt and 1/2 portion mashed potatoes would do the trick. Of course I can always try making my own vegan yogurt too...

Serves 6

Ingredients:

900g medium beetroots (500g after cooking and peeling)

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 small red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

250g Greek yogurt

1 1/2 tbsp date or maple syrup

3 tbsp olive oil + extra to garnish

1 tbsp za'atar

To garnish:

2 spring onions

15g toasted hazelnuts, roughly crushed

Preheat oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gask Mark 6.

Wash the beetroot and place it in a roasting tin. Put them in the oven and cook, uncovered, until a knife slices easily into the centre, approximately 1 hour. Once they are cool enough to handle, peel and cut each one into about 6 pieces. Allow to cool down. Place the beetroot, garlic, chilli, and yogurt in a food processor bowl and blend to a smooth paste. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and stir in the syrup, olive oil, za'atar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Taste and add more salt if you like.

Transfer the mash onto a serving plate and use the back of a spoon to spread the mixture around the plate. Scatter the spring onion and hazelnut on top and drizzle some more olive oil on top. Serve at room temperature.