Warm Beetroot and Cheese slices

I know this doesn’t sound particularly appealing, even more so if you don’t like beetroot, but I was curious to try this old fashioned recipe.
I think it could be brought up a notch or two to appeal the eyes; but for taste, it got full marks. As you know the flavour of beetroot is earthy, but with the addition of cheese, pickle and mayo it was both slightly sweet and tangy. D said he’d be more than happy to have it again. So I may just make them again, but with a different pastry recipe as I found the original pastry recipe for this a bit of a nuisance to roll out. However, after a botch-patch up job, you don’t really see the imperfections and the final result was actually rather good. The pastry was light, held well and crumbly in the mouth, but I know me, I don’t think I’ll have the patience with it breaking up on rolling again so a different pastry recipe it will be. But for those of you who may have more patience than me, I leave the recipe for your below.

These slices can be eaten cold, but I think for it to be appreciated it should be warm. I served them with some oven baked potato cakes.
Beetroot and Cheese slices

You will need a 7inch by 7 square tin or equivalent
Serves 4 – 6
Ingredients
For the pastry
100g plain flour
100g wholemeal flour
Pinch of salt
50g butter, diced
50g solid vegetable fat, diced (I use Trex)
3 – 5 tablespoons of cold water
For the filling
180g cheddar cheese, grated
180g cooked beetroot, grated
1 small red onion, finely sliced or grated
1 teaspoon mustard
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon pickle
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
For the pastry: sift both flours into a bowl with the salt. Add the butter and vegetable fat and rub with your fingers until the mixture resembles crumbs. Add the water gradually and mix well to make a fairly firm dough. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to Gas Mark 6 (see sidebar for conversion)
For the filling: In a large bowl mix all the filling ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Roll out half the pastry on a lightly floured surface and use to line the tin. Spread the filling over the pastry in the tin. Now roll out the remaining pastry into a square slightly larger than the top of the tin and cover the filling with it. Press it to the sides of the pastry, so that it is well encased. Brush with cold water, then make a small hole in the top for the steam to escape. Bake at the centre of the oven for 30 – 40 minutes, or until crisp. Serve hot or warm cut into slices or squares. Adapted from The Colour Library Book of Vegetarian Cooking, don’t giggle sometimes these older cookbooks have some really good recipes.