Love em or hate em.

We still have a few beetroot on the allotment, although we have eaten lots this year we can never have too many. Pampa is the beetroot king in our home and growing, cooking and eating them is his speciality.

Here he is preparing a basket full for the cooking. The leaves are cut off not too close to the actual beetroot and the root is left on. This helps stop the beetroot 'bleeding' into the cooking water.

He gives them a quick rinse in cold water and puts them straight into a large pan of cold water.

Bring the pan slowly to the boil and then turn down till it is just simmering. Any more and the beetroot will be dry when cooked. Leave them for about an hour. He check every little while to make sure they are still covered with water and are still simmering.

A little prod with a sharp knife to see if they are ready, yes done to perfection. Drain, mind they will be hot.

Cut the stalk off with a small knife and the skins should just fall away on it's own.

What you have left is a bowl of delicious beetroot. We serve these either hot with a white sauce with our dinner or cold with salad or in our sandwiches.