Baby Beet Tarte Tatin from 'River Cottage Veg'

For the Pastry: Mix flour with salt, then add cubed butter and toss until pieces are coated in flour. Stir in just enough ice water (about 2/3 cup or 150 ml) to bring mixture together into a fairly firm dough.

On a well-floured surface, shape dough into a rectangle with your hands and then roll it out in one direction, away from you, so you end up with a rectangle about 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick. Fold the far third towards you, then fold the nearest third over that (rather like folding a business letter), so that you now have a rectangle made up of 3 equal layers. Give pastry a quarter turn, then repeat the rolling, folding, and turning process 5 more times. Wrap pastry in plastic wrap and rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes or up to an hour.

For the Tarte: Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of about 1/4 inch (5mm). Take an ovenproof frying pan (or a tarte tatin dish) roughly 8 inches (20cm) in diameter, place it upside down on the pastry, and cut around it. Wrap pastry disk and place it in the fridge.

Melt butter with oil in the frying pan (or tarte tatin dish). Add cider vinegar, sugar, and some salt and pepper, stir well, then add halved beets and toss to coat. You want beets to fill pan snugly, so add a few more if you need to. Cover pan with foil, transfer to oven, and roast for 30 to 40 minutes, until beets are tender.

Take pan from oven and rearrange beet halves neatly, placing them cut side up. Lay pastry disk over beets, patting it down and tucking in the edges down the side of the pan. Return to oven and bake for 20 minutes, until pastry is fully puffed up and golden brown.

Leave tarte to cool in its pan for about 15 minutes, then turn it out by putting a plate over the top and inverting it. Pour any juices left in the pan back over the beets.

Put ingredients for vinaigrette into a screw-topped jar, season well with salt and pepper, and shake to combine. Trickle over tarte tatin and serve.