Beetroot and walnut balls with coriander

Ingredients for 8 servings:

• 500 g beetroot, preferably pre-cooked
• 100 g walnut kernels
• 1 small bunch of coriander
• 1 garlic clove(s)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp sweet paprika powder
• some pepper
• some cayenne pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour

visual highlight on the buffet

Wash the pre-cooked, vacuum-packed beetroot and trim off the stems. If you want to use fresh beetroot, cook it first and let it cool. Wash the coriander, pat it dry, and let it dry a little longer. Grate the walnuts through the fine grater attachment of your food processor; they should still be somewhat coarse, not too finely ground. If you don’t have a food processor, finely chop half of the kernels and grind the other half into a powder using a hand blender, for example. Set the grated nuts aside in a bowl. Then grate the beetroot in the same way and then press it dry in a cloth. Collect the liquid. Press the garlic clove through the garlic press, mix well with the lemon juice and some of the beetroot. Then mix in the beetroot and almost all of the grated nuts (I use a hand mixer with a dough hook). Add the spices and mix everything well. Pluck the coriander leaves, chop them finely, and stir them into the mixture (if you like, you can leave a handful of leaves whole and stick them on the finished balls as decoration). Taste the mixture and add more seasoning if desired. Now it’s time to test the consistency: Take a teaspoonful of the mixture and try to form it into a ball with your hands. It should be soft, but hold its shape on a plate and be about the size of a walnut. If it’s too dry, add a little of the beetroot juice. If it’s too soft, add the remaining nuts. Gradually form the mixture into small balls and arrange them on a plate, leaving some space between them. You can then pick them up with two fingers and pop them straight into your mouth—finger food, no less. This quantity makes about 26 balls, or a plateful. The basic recipe comes from Georgia. However, I’ve adjusted the spices so that I only use spices I always have in my cupboard. Ideas: It’s also quite attractive to scatter roughly chopped or sliced ​​nuts on top of the balls. This should only be done shortly before serving, however, as they will absorb the color of the beets over time. If you don’t like cilantro, you can also try parsley. Instead of walnuts, you can also use other nuts, such as almonds, but you may need to add more seasoning. If you don’t like picking the balls off the plate with your fingers, you can place them in paper baking cups or on serving spoons.