Beetroot eggs with pickled onion

Dyeing eggs is an old Easter custom. Beetroot gives a beautiful hue to these eggs, which are great eaten on their own, in a salad or with ham or smoked salmon, mackerel or snoek

Serves: 8

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

8 eggs

Salt

1 large beetroot, peeled and cut into blocks

500ml (2 cups) water

500ml (2 cups) white grape vinegar

125ml (½ cup) sugar

2 cloves

1 star anise

1 bay leaf

Pickled onion:

2 red onions, finely sliced

30ml (2 tbsp) white grape vinegar

30ml (2 tbsp) water

10ml (2 tsp) sugar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1) Place the eggs in a pot, cover with water and add a generous pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from the stove, pour off the water and cover with cold water.

2) Crack the eggs. Peel gently and set aside.

3) In a pot combine the beetroot, water, a pinch of salt, vinegar, sugar, cloves, star anise and bay leaf. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, cool completely and strain into a glass jar.

4) Add the peeled eggs. Allow to stand in the mixture for at least 2 hours before serving, or for 1-2 days in the fridge.

5) To make the pickled onion, cover sliced onion with a little boiling water and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Drain and add the white vinegar, water, sugar and seasoning and place in a glass container.

6) Serve the eggs with the drained pickled onion and a drizzle of olive oil and black pepper.