Pink power

Very tempting don't you think? It just so happens that beetroots are very much in season at the moment so it seems crazy not to take advantage of them so I thought I'd look up a few recipes for runbritain readers to help you boost your nitric oxide levels! Read on for starters, main, dessert and drinks*

Drinks

Purple Magic

Scrub 2 carrots and top and tail them. Roughly chop half a cucumber. Scrub 1/3 beetroot before chopping it into chunks. Juice the beetroot, followed by the carrot and then the cucumber. Combine the juices in a glass.

Starter

Spiced Pink Soup

This recipe is taken from Nigella Lawson's Channel 4 Forever Summer series.

This is a chilled soup and the only heating you need to do is to roast the beetroot, wrapped in tinfoil, in the oven, which takes about 2 hours but once it's in all you need to do is leave it there while you go out for your long run! In fact, while you're at it put another 3 in for the main course!

When you get back you need to partly unwrap it and leave it for a while until bearable to touch. Once they've cooled you should peel them. The skin should rub off easily. Put 3 on one side for the main and then cut remaining into chunks.

Put the m in a food processor with the juice of a lime, a teaspoon of ground cumin and coriander and blitz it to a pulp while pouring 1 1/2 litres of chicken or vegetable stock down the funnel. Be careful of the splashes! It's probably best to do it in two batches.

Taste for salt and pepper, blitz again and then pour into a large jug. Add a couple of spring onions halved length wise and leave to cool before chilling, clingfilmed, in the fridge for up to three days.

Just before you want to eat this, pick out the spring onions and, to make for a desirably creamy base, blitz again while adding sour cream, 175ml to start with and more if needed. Decant back into the jug (for easier pouring) then into bowls.

Main Course

Peter Gordon's beetroot pesto with linguine, peas and mint

3 beetroot (about 400g)

100g lightly toasted macadamia nuts

3 garlic cloves, peeled

a handful basil leaves and stalk, shredded

a small handful tarragon leaves

a small handful parsley leaves

80ml extra virgin olive oil

40g grated Parmesan (and extra for serving)

salt and freshly ground black pepper

400g dried linguine, spaghettini or tagliatelli

200g peas (frozen will work)

a handful of mint leaves, torn

Dice 2 of the beetroot  be tossed through the pasta, and cut the other into chunks. Place the macadamia nuts and garlic in a small food processor and blitz to give coarse crumbs. Add the beetroot chunks, basil, tarragon and parsley and blitz for 10 seconds, then add 60ml of the olive oil and blitz again briefly. Tip into a bowl and stir in the Parmesan. If the mixture looks too dry then mix in a little extra olive oil. Taste for seasoning, adding salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Bring a large pan of lightly salted water to the boil (no need to add any oil) and drop the pasta in, then give it a good stir. Cook it until almost al dente then add the peas and boil another 2 minutes before draining into a colander. Tip into a large bowl, or back into the pan, add the diced beetroot, remaining olive oil, the mint and ⅔ of the pesto. Mix it together really well, divide among your bowls, then dollop on the remaining pesto. Offer extra grated Parmesan as you serve it.

Dessert

Beetroot and chocolate cake

1 large cooked beetroot , about 175g in weight, roughly chopped

200g plain flour

100g cocoa powder

1 tbsp baking powder

250g golden caster sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

200ml sunflower oil

100g dark chocolate , (not too bitter), chopped into pieces

crème fraîche or clotted cream, to serve

 Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Tip the beetroot into a food processor and blitz until chopped. Add a pinch of salt and the rest of the ingredients, except the oil and chocolate. When completely mixed (you may need to scrape the sides down once or twice), add the oil in a steady stream, as if you were making mayonnaise.

When all the oil has been added, stir in the chocolate, then tip the mix into a lined 900g loaf tin. Cook for 1 hr until an inserted skewer comes out practically clean. leave the loaf to cool on a rack. Serve in slices with the crème fraîche or clotted cream.

* Although written as a 3 course meal it is probably advisable not to have so much beetroot all in one go. Some of the runner's blogs I have read report their shock at the sight of magenta coloured urine and other excretions after binging on beetroot!