Ingredients
Scale
For the Patties:
- 3 beets (12 ounces or 340 g), grated (to make about 3/4 cup)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/4 cup (209 g) finely ground semolina flour
- 1/4 cup (10 g) grated Pecorino cheese
- 1 teaspoon whole milk
For the Pecorino Garlic Butter:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick or 112 g) salted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (36 g) grated Pecorino cheese
- 1/4 cup (17 g) chopped beet greens
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, grated or minced
For the Beet Greens Pesto (Optional):
- The remaining greens (and some stems) of 3 beets, chopped (enough to make 2 cups/76 g), plus more for garnish
- 1 clove garlic, grated or minced
- 1 cup (113 g) walnuts
- 1/2 cup (25 g) grated Pecorino cheese
- 1/2–3/4 cup (120–175 ml) olive oil
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine grated beets, salt, ginger, and pepper. Use your clean hands to work in the flour, right in the bowl, until it’s fully incorporated and the bowl is clean, with everything absorbed into the ball.
- Flatten it, fold in Pecorino and milk, and continue working the dough, forming it back into a ball.
- Next, flour a large piece of parchment paper, place the dough on top, and use a floured rolling pin to flatten it into roughly a 9″ round – emphasis on roughly here, mine looked more like a 9″ continent – that is 1/4″ thick.
- Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to firmly cut out hearts (the dough will be stretchy and a little resistant to removing the cutouts). Place them on the prepared parchment-lined baking sheets as you cut them out; rework dough scraps into another 1/4-inch-thick slab, and repeat until you have 12 hearts and/or all the dough has been used. If you have a tiny bit of scraps leftover, free form them into a shape and add them to the parchment as well.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, until puffed and firm. Do not over bake (this is a preference thing: if you do over bake, the hearts will be even tougher than their already firm consistency, but they are still edible, no worries).
- Meanwhile, in a medium-sized bowl, combine all ingredients for the Pecorino garlic butter, smashing them together with a spoon or your clean hands (what is it with all the hand smooshing in this recipe? Fun project!). Form butter into a ball and set aside (no need to stick in the refrigerator).
- To make the optional pesto, which uses up all of your beet greens (yay!), combine 1/2 cup olive oil with all of the other ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Taste and adjust the flavor and texture with extra salt, lemon juice, or olive oil as you like.
- To serve, place a few warm patties on a plate and top with butter, letting it melt all over. Add some of the pesto and maybe some torn beet greens as a garnish, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutritional information below includes all of the pesto and the flavored butter. Use these to taste – you may have some left over.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Vegetables
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Appetizer
Keywords: beets, beet greens, pesto, butter