Baked Beetroot with Local Honey and Thyme

Some days you get a bonus!  Last week when I had a few days off work, a neighbour saw me and offered me some of the huge crop of beetroot that he had grown in his garden.  His car boot was full of beetroot and he reckoned he was feeding half the village.  I certainly wasn't going to turn down these beauties which I saw him pull from the ground just a few minutes before I took these photographs.

I made Beetroot Chutney with the biggest of the beets, like this monster above.  I kept the four best beets to bake.  I cleaned the worst of the earth off them in a bucket outside, then removed the leaves and scrubbed them.  You can bake them as they are but I like to wrap them in foil to save them from burning or drying up.  The baking time depends on the size of the beetroot, I cooked mine at 180C for an hour and a half.  When the beetroot is cooked, take them out of the foil and while still warm, slip off the skins (I usually wear rubber gloves, otherwise you end up with purple hands) and quarter the beets.

Place the quartered beetroot into an ovenproof dish and spoon over two teaspoons of good local honey, 1 tbsp of rapeseed or other light oil and a tsp of fresh thyme leaves.  Put this back into the oven for about 5 minutes to warm through, then add 2 tsp of balsamic vinegar.

This is the fabulous local honey I used from John Mellis Apiaries at Auldgirth.  It is thick but not grainy, the flavour is intense and so good.  A little goes a long way and I'm guarding it carefully from Mr Farmer who would have it finished in a matter of a couple of days.

I'm entering this recipe for Shop Local, the Blogging Challenge run by Elizabeth's Kitchen.

 I'm also entering this for Cooking with Herbs, the monthly blogging challenge run by Karen at Lavender and Lovage, for any recipe cooked with herbs.