Witloof and Beetroot Boats

Two points to remember – drain the filling in a sieve so it becomes as dry as possible, and spoon it into the leaves just prior to serving. This way you will avoid unsightly beetroot bleed. The pomegranate molasses lends tartness and being thick, helps hold everything together. In fact my boats stayed quite pristine in the fridge for a couple of hours till the test panel came home from work, but don’t chance it!

If you can’t find witloof, split open snow peas or use small lengths of celery.

2-3 medium beetroot
1/4 cup burghul
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and freshly milled pepper
1/4 cup very finely chopped red pepper
a few chives or garlic chives
4-6 witloof

Cover the burghul in water and set aside for 30 minutes, Drain well in a sieve then set aside till required.

Scrub the beetroot and chop off the leaves, leaving about 2cms of stalk. Wrap individually in foil and bake in a pre-heated 200C oven for about an hour or until tender. Unwrap and allow to cool a little before rubbing off the peel. Rubber gloves are a good idea.

Finely chop. This can be achieved by putting the beetroot in a flat-bottomed container and using a metal pastry scraper or a flat ended egg slice. Don’t be tempted to use the blender. Add the pomegrate molasses, cumin and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the burghul. Set the mixture aside for about an hour to allow the flavours to develop then place in a sieve, stir and allow to drain.

Separate the leaves from the witloof and arrange on an attractive round platter. Spoon a little of the filling into each leaf and decorate with a few bits of red pepper and a little sprinkling of chives.