beet, goat’s cheese & walnut pie
June 12, 2015 § 72 Comments
We’ve been in a constant state of remodel here at the tiny white cottage. So much so that I have been without a kitchen table for the past five months. Since then all of my photo’s for this humble little blog have been taken on a cutting board on my counter top. I could have lost steam and inspiration for lack of space (and light for that matter) but for some reason I have been chugging along like the ‘little engine that could’. I certainly haven’t lost enthusiasm for cooking dinner for the guys and some of my best meals have transpired in this construction zone. Like for instance, this beet, goat’s cheese & walnut tart.
It doesn’t take a kitchen table to bring us together for a nice meal in the evening. We are happy to sit down on stools or chairs or even hop up on the kitchen counter with a plate and fork in hand. It’s such a valuable time of day, and to be able to take three lovely organic beets with the greens attached and create a delicious tart such as this calls for a moment to sit and sigh in relief that all is well and wonderful.
I stumbled upon this recipe a couple of weeks ago on Epicurious and couldn’t get to the market quick enough to pick up beets and goat’s cheese. If you love beet, goat cheese & walnut salad you’ll love this pie. Sometimes beets with the greens attached are not available at the market. If this is true at your market you may use another tender green such as spinach or chard.
Recipe adapted from Epicurious.
I n g r e d i e n t s
- single pie crust of your choice
- 2 to 3 small beets
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (I used coconut oil)
- 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
- 2 or 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon thyme, finely chopped
- greens from the beets (or spinach can be used)
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- sea salt & pepper
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup milk (I used whole)
- 4 ounces fresh goat cheese
- 1 cup chopped walnuts (about 4 ounces)
- small handful of mint leaves
- 1/2 cup walnut, crushed
M e t h o d
Preheat oven to 350°F. Peel and grate the beets using a box grater or food processor. Place a large skillet on medium heat. Add olive oil or coconut oil and spread onion slices evenly in the pan. Fry for five minutes each side. Add garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant. Toss in 1/2 of the beet greens (or spinach) with apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper. When the greens are wilted stir in the other half and remove the skillet off the heat. Beat the eggs together with the milk and then crumble in the goat’s cheese. Add the eggs and cheese to the greens and onion mixture and combine well. Stir in the mint leaves and set aside.
After rolling out your pie dough transfer it to your pie pan. Prick the bottom a few time and blind bake for 10 minutes. Arrange the grated beets at the bottom of the pie and keep a little for the top. Pour the egg and greens mixture onto the crust, making sure that the cheese is evenly distributed. Spread the walnut pieces here and there on the top and sprinkle the remaining shredded beets. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden and set.
COTTAGE GROVE HOUSE 
Sounds and looks wonderful! I pinned for Meatless Monday inspiration. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much! Hope you get around to making it on a Monday, I can’t think of a better meatless dish to make at the moment! :)
looks delicious!!!
i guess my homemade goat prisciutto will be a great topping too for this pie…
Oh yes! definitely goat prosciutto topping on this Dedy. I must come by and see what fancy food you have been preparing these days. Thanks for stopping in!
Love goat cheese and beets, Beautiful food.
Thanks a bunch! :)
Great ingredients, so colorful with the beets too. It looks like you use the raw beets in the dish itself and perhaps let it bake in the oven with all the rest? Yumm to the goat cheese too.
Yes! I shredded the beets and used them raw. It was lovely. Such a perfect combination for a savory pie with the goats cheese and walnuts. I love having pie for dinner… :)
This looks beautiful! I’m picturing myself sitting in glorious sunshine with a serving of this and a chilled glass of Sauvignon Blanc! :)
Your comment made me smile! :) I think you have a perfect scenario here with the glorious sunshine and chilled Sauvignon Blanc, which happens to be my favorite wine at the moment… So nice of you to stop in and leave me a comment Colette.
So simple and beautiful. You cook very much like I eat. It’s what I love about your recipes. The pie is particularly gorgeous with all of those colors. Enjoy the remodeling!
The best part of remodeling is when a project is done! I wish the process was more enjoyable. It seems like around every corner is a can of worms! We just opened up the visqueen wall surrounding the kitchen so we’re back in business! :) Thank you Amanda and hope you have a wonderful weekend in Mexico!
Oh my! I will trade you as many strawberry shortcake cookies you desire for a slice of this magnificent pie!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nothing like putting all the ingredients of a favorite salad in a pie crust to put it over the top! Making this for sure!
You’re on…I’ll trade anything for your strawberry shortcake cookies! :) You are right about favorite salad ingredients…doesn’t get much better than a beet, goat cheese and walnuts. Then to toss them on top of a crust and bake it is fantastic!
Oooh yes! All the things I love.
:) Nice to see your comment today…thanks for stopping in!
Hoping your pie crust came out well. And loving your photos, BTW. The beets are such a good colour against those woods. Even though beets are never going to be a favourite I loved this combination (without the walnuts) last month. I ended up having soft goats’ cheese on bread with beets as part of a larger salad. So good.
Soft goats’ cheese on bread with beets sounds lovely! Funny you should mention the crust. I didn’t have it in me to write about it in the post but the crust I made for this particular pie completely failed. It failed so bad I tossed it in the compost and used a back up store bought I had in the freezer! Oh well, since then I have had one success with a strawberry pie. Good thing I had the back up store bought crust because I had all the ingredients ready to go. Thank you regarding the photo’s! Huge compliment coming from you!
Beautiful job, it looks amazing! With or without the space, your photos are gorgeous :)
Thank you so much! Such a kind comment, you made my day. :)
I LOVE beets and goat cheese and never thought of putting together in a tart. It looks so beautiful I have to try it. What a wonderful combination.
When I saw the recipe it was a ‘hand slap forehead’ moment! Of course beets, goat cheese and walnuts in a pie! It was fantastic and hope you try it Suzanne.
A lovely combo of beets, goats cheese and walnuts – this could win over even the biggest of meat eaters…..and as for the kitchen table just think how much you’ll appreciate it when it does arrive….
You are right! We finally took down the plastic wall and brought the table back and I appreciate it more now than I did before. It’s so nice to actually serve dinner on the table instead of the counter! :)
I hope it’s a nice big dinner table!
I love goat cheese and the other ingredients in this tart–it sounds so good!
Yes! Goat cheese is a favorite of mine and especially paired with beets. I could eat pie everyday, rather it’s savory or sweet, it doesn’t matter. :) Thank you Nancy!
This is my kind of recipe. I will bookmark it for when my beets (of which I have many) ripen in my garden.
How nice to have beets growing in your garden! There’s no doubt you’ll have some lovely beet greens to harvest too! Hope you get around to making the pie Hilda, it’s wonderful and meant to be shared. :)
Oh yummy, I love this kind of tart, Seana! :)
I love this tart too Linda! It certainly has all the wonderful elements of a savory tart, especially with the walnut bits and goats’ cheese. Enjoy your weekend!
You too! :)
Looks damn fine my friend. That mint at the end sealed the deal fo’ sho.
We have a ton of mint growing wild out back and I’m always looking for ways to use it other than mowing over it with the lawn mower to get an aromatherapy treatment. :) Julep?
Yeah, how good does that stuff smell when you mow it! We are all about the fresh herbs here. I effing love that shit!! 😁👌
Your photos always look absolutely stunning Seana – I wouldn’t consider changing a thing! Beautiful savoury tart to share with us today… sounds really delicious!
Thank you Margot! Truth be told, I dropped my little point & click the other day and now the screen is black! Yes, up until now I used a ridiculous point & click :/ So for this post I used an iPhone 5s! Sheesh. I guess you could say I’m bound and determined to post… :)
Lovely! I think beet greens are so wonderful they just make a dish even that much more tasty. Best wishes for your renovation! :)
Thank you Josette…the renovation is moving along nicely and it’s always so inspiring when something big is complete. A few years ago we were without a kitchen for months! That was interesting. I cooked out of a slow cooker and microwave. I won’t ever do that again! :)
Lovely! This would be good with the buckwheat flour & coconut oil gluten free pastry I make :)
Nice to see you back xx
Ok, now you have piqued my curiosity about your buckwheat & coconut oil pastry. Is it on your blog? Please…send the link if so! :)
Here you go:
https://foodbod.wordpress.com/2015/04/03/fabulous-roasted-beetroot-gluten-free-galette-perfect-for-easter/
Ooohhhh!!! This is like a reciepee pot for me;). Love all these flavors in a salad and now you have shown me a way to make a pie out of it!! Gorgeous recipe and on my list to try sometime!❤️❤️❤️😘😘😘😘
I always get a kick out of your emoji’s! Make the pie Sonal. Especially if you love these flavors in a salad. “This pie is something special” is what I heard when we were having dinner. :)
😜😂😂
Still on the road Seana! Will surely try once I am settled!!
This is stunning!
Thank you for your nice compliment! :)
Love meals like this, just picked up beets with there tops today at the farmers market, have all the ingredients to make this, how often does that happen? Anyway, we remodeled a few years back and it took a whole year. I started getting pretty creative, when I look back it wasn’t that bad. Have a great week-end!
Yes! remodeling can be really fun when you are in the creative process of it! It’s the grueling “grunt work” that really takes it out of you…like scraping old glue off of floors (for weeks!) in order to sand them! But it sure is satisfying when it’s done and you are sitting in that room, with a glass of wine, admiring your new floor! :) Always so nice to read your comments Cheri!
Gosh Seana– I can’t believe you could summon up this beautiful tart in the middle of a kitchen remodel!! It really does look intriguing– savory and pretty as a dessert! Hope everything comes out well with your kitchen.
Thank you Rhonda! The kitchen is coming along s l o w l y…it’s the living room we are so glad to be sitting in again. It was closed off from the rest of the house for months! It’s open now, and we couldn’t be happier. :)
Progress! Hope it all goes well. You are intrepid.
Ooh, I’m obsessed with beets and this looks amazing! My love for them is quite recent, so I’m always looking for new recipes to try. This is going on my “must make” list. Yum!
I have a beet obsession too! Well, it comes and goes. Something about the walnuts and goats’ cheese in this tart that really makes it special. Hope you get a chance to make this…and thank you so much of stopping in an leaving me a nice comment. :)
Another triumph in the tiny white cottage. Love it.
Hey thanks Conor! :)
This is going in my must-make-soon file!
I have one of those files too! :) Hope it makes it to the top of the list, it’s a lovely pie and the color is very impressive.
Pure fabulousness! My kind of pie – a savory one! You don’t need fancy food styling to make this look any more appealing than it already is!!!
I love that word…fabulousness! This pie is so colorful, attractive and very photogenic! I can tell you and I share the same sense of taste…
I’ve started eating beets 2-3 years ago… that’s way I am a kind of newbie experimenting with this vegetable! I’m sure that I would love your pie… Thanks a lot for sharing!
Aren’t beets wonderful?! We love to bake a couple and have them in the refrigerator to add to salad during the week. They are delicious with just a little olive oil and salt. Thank you!
My husband is not a fan of goat’s cheese and I am not a fan of beets, but it is truly a beautiful pie! I feel your pain with the remodel! At least our kitchen and bedrooms are done now. Next – the bathrooms!
This is just simply such a thing of beauty. Something so special about a savoury tart – that simple layer of pastry elevates everything. Lovely job Seana.
First your photos are mouthwatering! Second, may with this pie will finally be able make eat some vegetables to my fiancè! This pie looks sooo gooooood and healthy (not diet healthy, but delicious healthy!).
Thanks
Cat
great combination!
Thank you Poli! :)
All the best with your cottage remodel. You’ve done amazingly well without a kitchen table! Love beet, goat cheese and walnut salad – such a great idea to use this combination in a pie! So colorful. I need a slice of that to brighten up my dreary, freezing Melbourne morning.
I made your wonderful beetroot pie also with home grown red beets & I added a few chioaggia beets to it too! xxxx
It was just so wonderful! x
This pie is a masterpiece! :)
Thank you so much Fae! :) I always love your comments and appreciate that you stop in!
Wow – this look amazing. All my favourite flavours.
For an idea for using up those tops of your beets, check out my latest post on isthisfood: http://isthisfood.co.uk :)
Hatti | isthisfood