French Recipe: Beet Root Verrine

Beetroot gaspacho verrine

Do you know what a verrine is? Verrine stands for little glass in French. Reserved only at first for the most famous French restaurant, verrines have been democratized during the last few years. Nowadays, you can find them almost everywhere in France from the fancy restaurant in the 6th district of Paris to the kitchen of your friend Nathalie. It is also gaining in popularity abroad. I am sure that you already noticed that some foreign cooks already use elegant glasses to create interesting desserts.

Beet red, so healthy and so tasty

In France verrines aren’t just filled with sweet stuff, savory ones are much more popular. As you can see with the French recipe I am sharing with you, the ultimate is when a salty verrine looks like a sweet one. Do you feel like eating a raspberry smoothie with some Chantilly on top or a beetroot gazpacho with a goat cheese mousse? That’s why verrines are so successful on French tables. We like to eat good stuff, but we adore eating beautiful things too. These French delicacies make it possible.

A handy creamer, that creates whipped cream (or Chantilly) almost instantly

So I think you’ve got it by now, this is all about surprising and delighting your palate and your eyes. The first verrines I tasted were made of fine products and served around Christmas and New Year eve. However you can make casual verrines too for successful home parties with style and taste. These little clear glasses make every your dish all the prettier. Creating them means playing with flavor, varying textures and placing colored layers of ingredients. Easy and fast to make most of the time, but you can of course find more complicated recipes as well.

Below one of my finest verrine recipes, Beet gazpacho verrine with goat cheese mousse. To find more verrine recipes, visit French girl cuisine.

Beet gazpacho verrine with goat cheese mousse
Ingredients:

• 350 gr. of cooked beets (12 oz)
• 150 gr. of fresh goat cheese (5 oz)
• 25 cl. of full fat cream (1 cup)
• 1 shallot
• 1 apple
• 25 cl. of water (1 cup)
• 15 cl. of apple juice (1/2 cup)
• 2 teaspoons of finely chopped chives
• pepper
• salt

Creaming the cream

Heat full fat cream, fresh goat cheese, pepper and salt in a medium saucepan until cheese melts. Pass through a sieve and fill in your cream whipper. Refrigerate at least two hours.

Peel and slice shallots. Dice cooked beets. Peel, seed and dice apple. Put all ingredients in your electric blender. Add salt, pepper, water and apple juice. Blend until you get a homogeneous gazpacho. Sieve if needed.

Fill in your verrine with the beet gazpacho. Add the goat cheese cream on top and spread some chives to decorate.

Et Voilá!

To realize this recipe without cream whipper, mix the goat cheese with a spatula. Whip the full fat cream until you obtain a whipped cream. Add the goat cheese and some salt and pepper.

Author: Natacha Gajdoczki hails from Montpellier and is the creator of the French Girl Cuisine Blog.

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