Beet Tarte Tatin

A savory twist on a classic tarte tatin, this beet tarte tatin is both sweet and savory and should be enjoyed as a side dish, not a dessert.  It's an easy recipe that not only highlights beets, but is  great way to go through a bumper crop of them.  

Beet Tarte Tatin

Ingredients

• olive oil, for roasting
• salt & pepper, to taste
• 5-10 beets, depending on size of beets and size of pan
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup sorghum syrup
• 1 tube of crescent roll dough (this comes with perforations to make crescent rolls and as just a solid sheet of dough - the the solid sheet if you can)

Serves 4 - 6
Cook time: 1 1/2 hours

Preheat oven to 425.  Trim beets and toss in olive oil, salt and pepper.  Roast beets in foil packets until they can easily be pierced with a knife - the amount of time will depend on the size of the beets, but for golfball sized beets it is roughly 30 minutes.  Once beets are tender remove from oven and open foil packets (be careful because the packets are full of steam).  Peel beets, if necessary (I have found that small fresh garden beets do not need to be peeled, but larger store-bought ones do) and slice into 1/2" slices.
Meanwhile, add butter to 8" or 9" sauté pan (non-stick or cast iron would be best).  Make sure butter coats bottom and sides of sauté pan so the tatin slips out easily later on.  Add sugar and sorghum syrup to butter.  Cook butter, sorghum syrup, and sugar until they are syrupy and just beginning to show some color.  Neatly arrange beet slices in the pan.  Continue to cook until sorghum caramel starts to become a medium brown color.  Turn heat off and move sauté pan off heat.  
Remove crescent dough from refrigerator and unroll.  Gently place the sheet of dough over the pears; cut off excess dough and, using a spatula, "tuck" the dough between the pears and side of the sauté pan. Depending on the size of pan, you might want to fold the entire sheet of dough in half and then gently roll it out to fit the pan, then "tuck" the dough, etc.
Bake for 10 - 15 minutes, it is done when dough is golden and crispy.  Allow tatin to set for 10 minutes.  Carefully invert the tatin onto your serving platter.