Swedish baked beets

Swedish baked beets are traditionally eaten with salted fish. They are also delicious served with beef, lamb, bison, or wild fowl. Eat this dish however you choose: hot out of the oven, at room temperature, or cold as an alfresco summer picnic dish.

Swedish baked beets

                                                                               Yield: 4-6 servings

Oven: 240℃  (460℉)

Ingredients:

3 medium-sized beets

1 large red onion

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

sea salt

fresh ground black pepper

½ - ¾ cup commercial soured cream

Garnish: 5 -6 sprigs fresh dill

Preparation:

1. Wash beets. Remove beet leaves, leaving about 2.5 cm. (1 in.) of stem attached to the roots.

2. Using 1 tablespoon of olive oil, coat beet roots in oil. Place whole beet roots in an aluminium foil cooking wrap, add a dash of salt and pepper, and close the foil wrap securely. Place the foil wrapped beet roots in a heat-proof baking tray. Bake at 240℃   for approximately 1.5 hours. 

Cooking time required will vary with the beet's size, origin and type, and with your elevation above sea level. Wearing heat-proof oven mitts, test the roots for doneness by gently pressing the them with your fingers.If the root gives way slightly, baking is complete.

3. Peel red onion and slice into 8 to 16 wedges, depending upon the size of the onion. Place onion wedges on a baking tray. Drizzle with the other tablespoon of olive oil. Add salt and pepper, if preferred. Bake at the same time as the beets. The onion wedges should require approximately 20 - 30 minutes if placed below the beet roots. Less time will be required if the wedges are placed high in the oven. 

When the onion wedges are just slightly singed on some tips, remove from the oven, loosely cover, and set aside.

Roasted red onion wedges

4. When the beet roots are baked, remove them from the oven. Slip the peels off. Quarter the beets into wedges and, possibly, divide the wedges again into bite-sized wedges, depending upon the size of the beets.

Baked beets, fresh from the oven

5. Arrange baked beet and red onion wedges in a serving dish or on a serving plate. Either add dollops of sour cream over the vegetables, or place the sour cream in a separate serving dish. Garnish with fresh dill.