Beetroot roses, mixed with squash and sweet potato for a tart with a ricotta, parmesan and caramelised shallots. Its such a pretty tart to brighten up a meal, the veg slices curl up and look like dried roses in the oven.

It reminds me of a bouquet. I love the vibrant colours.

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You will need a mandolin slicer to thinly cut the vegetables, the thinner the slices the easier they will be to cook and roll up.

You can use a mix of beetroot, sweet potato and butternut squash in whatever ratios you wish. Personally i find the finished tart looks better with more beetroot dyed butternut squash and less slices of actual beetroot as it doesn’t bake up as dark. If you scroll to down to the bottom of the post below the recipe you can see three variations of this tart to get an idea how it will look.

I make this beetroot rose tart quite often, its a great way to make left over veggies look special. I get a lot of questions asking how to make vegetable rosettes so i thought this post might be helpful.

The filling could be anything you like really, the possibilities are endless. I have used whipped goats cheese and garlic before, ricotta parmesan and caramelised shallots and i have also made it with blue cheese.

Here i have shared the ricotta and parmesan recipe, but it is a suggestion use what ever you fancy.

Assembling the beetroot roses

The slices must be part cooked first, i do this by thinly slicing them and roasting them in a covered tray first.

This softens them and makes them cook more successfully on the finished bake (you dont want any that are undercooked), and adds flavour from the garlic and herbs. It also makes it easier to assemble.

To get a mix of colours i mix some of the squash and potato together with the beetroot to let the beetroot juice dye it.

The 6 step by step photos below are from when i made this tart with whipped goats cheese and garlic.

Thinly sliced veg works best, so i suggest using the thinnest setting you can on a mandolin slicer. I cut the butternut squash slices in half so they were a similar size to the beetroot. See a reel i made of it being made here

Instructions for making beetroot roses

Once the slices have been pre baked let them cool a little so you can handle them.

Step one – Take one slice of the thinly sliced pre roasted veg and roll it up in to a cone shape.

Step two – Take another slice and roll this around the cone you made.

Step 3- Keep adding slices, wrapping them tightly around overlapping each one slightly. Add as many slices as you want for the size flowers you want. I add quite a few.

Step 4 – Place rosettes down on the tart and tease the slices open to look like rose petals.

I add a mix of colours together for some of the rosettes and keep some all one colour. I roast some of the squash mixed with the beetroot to dye it and and keep some separate to keep it orange.

These videos show how to place the rosettes with gaps in between, and how to open them up to look more like roses.

Recipe notes

Tips to remember

• Use a mandolin slicer to cut veg on its thinnest setting
• Peel veg first – you could get beetroot stains on your hands so wash them regularly while making this or wear gloves if you prefer.
• Roast the slices first covered in foil. I add herbs and garlic to add flavour. When rolling the rosettes i keep some of the garlic slices i used to roast them with to add flavour to the tart.
• Assemble the rosettes as tight coils first then open them up on the tart
• Leave a space between each one so you can open it up, and so they can cook evenly
• Mix the beetroot with some of the other veg to dye it.
• White sweet potatoes and golden beetroots tend to go brown in the oven.
• Cover the tart with foil just over the rosettes if they start to burn to allow the pastry to cook.
• Add any creamy cheese filling you fancy, whipped soft goats cheese or ricotta works well.
• I like to serve it warm with some balsamic reduction.
• I use a block of shop bought puff pastry, you can make your own if you wish, but it seemed like an extra step on an already time consuming tart

NOTE – If you jumped straight to the recipe scroll up to see some of the tips i shared.

Here it is on some of the occasions i have made it, the more beetroot you use the darker the flowers will look. so if you want it more bright pink use more butternut squash and rub some of the beetroot juices on so it goes a bright pink colour. (tart one was done like that)

Below is how the tart one from the selection above looked before it was baked.

I use the same pre cooking technique when i make tarts with just butternut squash or potato too.

This is because the slices are rolled quite tightly and they wont bake well and will remain hard if you dont pre cook them.

For the galette above i used a vegetable peeler and made long strips of butternut squash. the recipe for that is here

I have a bit of a thing for rose inspired bakes, i love to use apple for a sweet version too, find that recipe here