Beetroot Tart with Goats' Cheese Recipe

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. In a smallish ovenproof frying pan over a medium heat, heat the sugar until it. dissolves, then add a big pinch of sea salt and a splash of sherry vinegar, and keep stirring. It'll go foamy. Keep stirring on the heat until it has gone a mahogany brown. Take great care not to burn yourself - use oven gloves and don't let the sugar catch and burn. Take off the heat and stir in the honey and thyme.

2. Cut the beetroot in to nice fat slices and carefully (so you don't burn your fingers) arrange the slices fanned out over the caramel, working in a spiral towards the centre. Use all the beetroot up. Season with a pinch of salt and a twist of pepper.

3. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the puff pastry large enough to cover the beetroot. Place it on top of the beetroot, tucking the edges down in to the pan. Put the whole lot into the oven and bake for about 30 minutes until the pastry is golden. Remove from the oven and let the pan cool down just a little.

4. Get a plate that's bigger than the pan and invert it over the pan. Holding the two together, and using oven gloves, turn the whole lot over. Leave it for 30 seconds for all the caramel to fall from the pan on to the top of the tart, then whip the pan off.

5. Serve by the wedge while still warm, with goat's cheese on top and, if you fancy it, a drizzle of honey and a few extra thyme leaves.