Carpaccio, named after an Italian Renaissance artist famous for his use of red and white tones, is traditionally made with paper-thin slices of meat or fish. Our magenta-hued vegan version, with its refreshing citrus dressing, makes a beautiful starter or side salad.
For a really dramatic presentation, use some blood oranges and candy striped (chioggia) beetroots, which happily both happen to be in season around the same time.
Serves: 6
Keeps: dressing 2 days in the fridge
Eat carpaccio within 2 hours Per serving: 123 cals, 17 g carbs
For the orange vinaigrette
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
generous pinch of sea salt 5 grinds black pepper
1 small orange
For the salad
3 large oranges
2 cooked beetroots
1-2 young fresh beetroots
tiny sprigs of watercress, rocket, or pea shoots
To make the orange vinaigrette, put the vinegar, oil and seasonings into a screw-top jar. Zest and juice the small orange, add to the jar and shake well.
Cut a slice off the top and bottom of the large oranges then remove the peel and white pith with a small sharp knife. Slice the oranges thinly, adding any loose juice to your dressing.
Slice the cooked beetroot. Trim and peel the raw beetroot and slice as thinly as you can, ideally paper-thin and definitely no more than 2-3 mm (1?8″) thick, easiest using a mandoline or vegetable slicer.
Arrange the beetroot and orange slices on a serving platter then pour over half the vinaigrette. The carpaccio can now be refrigerated, covered with clingfilm, for up to 2 hours.
Just before serving, add the watercress, rocket, or pea shoots and drizzle with the rest of the well-shaken dressing.
