Having grown a fine batch of beetroot, most people would not choose to drown their handiwork in vinegar, but I blimmin love pickled beetroot, so I did. I searched high, low and in between for a good recipe, but no two are the same and some seemed a little lacklustre, so I decided to combine them all and make my own up. The mothership and I lifted the ruby red spheres out of the ground this afternoon, trimmed the leaves off to about half an inch and washed them off, being careful not to damage the skin (lest the clarety juice should leak out.)
I wrapped them in tinfoil and roasted them at 180 degrees for 2 hours. Meanwhile, I started to mix the vinegar; 500ml of malt pickling vinegar, a tablespoon of pink peppercorns, one bay leaf, 10 cloves and 80g of sugar, to take the edge off the vinegar. I brought it to the boil and then left it to infuse for two hours.
Once the roasted beets had cooled down, I peeled them, sliced them and layered them in a sterilised jar before pouring the cooled vinegar all over them. Pickly deliciousness...