For 8 full salads
Ingredients:
6 large beets
3 blood oranges
one bunch of mache
1 1/2 cups raw walnuts
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Balsamic vinegar
Salt
Pepper
White Truffle oil (optional)
Pre heat the oven to 375. Cut off the beet stems to about one inch above the beets. Put the beets in a roasting pan with a drizzle of olive oil and salt to coat. Pop them in the oven for about one hour, of until the are tender. The best way to test this is by pushing a skewer through one. If it does so smoothly, they're ready.
Meanwhile, wash and dry your mache and cut you blood oranges into supremes. The easiest way to do this is to cut off the top and bottom of the oranges, then, using a paring knife, slice off the skin, removing all of the bitter pulp. Try not to hack away at the fruit, as you want to have as much to work with as possible; the goal is to remove all of the exterior white stuff. Then, cut the orange into segments between the white membrane walls (on the fruit, it's those white lines separating pieces of the fruit all the way around). I do this over a bowl, so as to collect all of the juice. In a separate bowl, squeeze the remaining pulp to release about 2 tablespoons of blood orange juice (this will be used in the vinaigrette).
Place the raw walnuts on a cookie sheet and place in oven with beets for about 10 minutes, or until fragrant and toasted. Roughly chop the walnuts into large-ish pieces you can grab with a fork.
For the vinaigrette, add two tablespoons of balsamic to the blood orange juice, then add four tablespoons of olive oil, plus a few drops of white truffle oil is you wish. Add a pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper. Whisk and taste. Adjust the olive oil and balsamic to your tastes, though generally you want that slight twinge of vinegar with the golden mellowness of the olive oil coming through.
When the beets are done, peel them by hand or with a knife and half and quarter them into 1 inch pieces.
In a large bowl, mix the mache, beets, walnuts, orange supremes, and vinaigrette. Plate the salad. Then slice the burrata into 1 inch segments and place on top of the salad. Garnish with a drizzle of olive oil and pepper. Enjoy!
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