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Beetroot and ricotta salad with lamb’s lettuce, anchovy, orange and walnuts

I very much like beetroot in all its many shapes, colours and sizes. There is little to distinguish in taste between the different lovely colours, in my opinion, but the variety of hue is welcome in the drabber autumn and winter months, during which these root vegetables proliferate. Soft cheeses go well with beetroot, especially the lactic, undemandingly less-strong sorts such as mozzarella, mild goat and ricotta. The saline poke of the anchovy also combines nicely with these ingredients and the orange tang seems to bring it all together in a pleasing, citrusy kind of way.

Serves 4 as a starter

4 medium-sized red beetroots, or 2 golden and 2 red beets, washed

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

200–250ml good-quality olive oil

about 12 walnuts

250ml freshly squeezed orange juice

1 heaped tsp grain mustard

1 lemon

8 anchovies

250g best-quality ricotta

1 punnet or bag of lamb’s lettuce, washed thoroughly

1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped

1 bunch of fresh chives, finely chopped

Set the oven to 175°C. Place the unpeeled beetroots on a large piece of foil and season well with salt, pepper and a generous slug of olive oil. (Aromatics such as garlic, fresh thyme and bay leaves can be added at this stage if liked, but as the beets will be later skinned, these additions are of minimal use unless used in disproportionately large quantities.) Bake for about 1 hour. The exact timing rather depends on the size of the beetroots – a skewer inserted into the centre will reveal whether they are done; it should slide in and out without any resistance. As soon as you can handle the hot beetroots, slide off the skins and discard – clean rubber gloves are good for this job. This is much more difficult when the vegetables have cooled down, so don’t leave them too long.

Flash the walnuts through the oven at the same temperature for about 5 minutes until roasted, but not darkly coloured. Roughly chop when cooled.

To make the dressing, reduce down the orange juice by boiling it in a small, ideally stainless steel pan until it is about one-fifth of its original volume. Allow to cool a little, then add a generous pinch of salt, the grain mustard and olive oil to taste – probably about 200ml or so. Further acidulate with a squeeze of lemon juice and check the seasoning. If it is blandly sweet, add more salt, lemon juice and mustard, if liked.

Halve each anchovy lengthways. Thickly slice the beetroots and season well – it is essential that they are adequately seasoned. To assemble, arrange the beetroot slices evenly between the four plates. Break up the ricotta over the beetroot and this too will benefit from a little sea salt and pepper. Dress the seasoned lamb’s lettuce with the chopped shallot and a tiny trickle of olive oil (remembering that the orange vinaigrette is still to come) and add to the plates. Distribute the anchovies and chopped walnuts around and finally, at the last minute, add the chives to the dressing and spoon over the salad. You may not need all the dressing and any leftovers can be used for another recipe (it is good with tuna or mackerel).