YOU SHOULD ROAST YOUR RADISHES

Just trust me on this. ROASTED RADISHES ON WHIPPED FETA WITH GREEN CHILLI SALSA + ROASTED RADISHES AND GREEN BEANS WITH RADISH TOP PESTO

May 15, 2025

I LOVE radishes. I love them raw and dipped into whipped salty butter. I love them shaved into salads or chopped into slaws. I’m also a big fan of a quick pickled radish to bring a bit bounce to something, like these charred asparagus miso mayo tostadas Also, apologies if it’s TMI but I cannot stand it when I have onion breath. Something happened to me after having covid and me and raw onion (in any form) are no longer friends. So whilst quick pickled onions tend to be a no for me, quick pickled radishes are a BIG YES. I love radishes just about any way you can eat them but I ADORE them roasted. So I come to you with two roasted radish recipes this week, ROASTED RADISHES ON WHIPPED FETA WITH GREEN CHILLI SALSA, and ROASTED RADISHES AND GREEN BEANS WITH RADISH TOP PESTO.

PS. if you’ve found your way here but are reading this thinking ‘radishes aren’t my thing, I might pass’. DON’T. Or at least, before you do, try roasting them. Trust me! They are DELICIOUS.

Roasting radishes seems to mellow their flavour slightly and bring a subtle sweetness to them. They become juicy little balloons that almost pop in your mouth. I find they can stand up well to bold flavours and benefit from something creamy. Whipped feta is the perfect match as is a nutty radish leaf pesto (bonus points for avoiding waste too).

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THE RECIPES

ROASTED RADISHES WITH WHIPPED FETA AND JALAPEÑO SALSA

You’ll have a little more salsa than you need but that’s no bad thing.

Serves 4-6

700g radishes
3 tbsp runny honey
2 tbsp olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
Sea salt

For the whipped feta

200g feta
150g Greek yogurt
Juice of half a lemon
For the salsa
½ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp caraway seeds
3 jalapeños, finely chopped (seeds removed or left in if you really like the heat)
Small bunch coriander, finely chopped
Small bunch of mint, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed or finely grated
Juice of ½ a lemon
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 200 degrees fan setting. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Wash the radishes and slice any very large radishes in half. Combine the olive oil, honey, lemon juice and salt in a bowl. Add the radishes and toss. Transfer to the tray and roast for 40 mins, pouring off the released liquid after 20 mins. They should be caramelised and slightly shrivelled when cooked.

Combine the feta, yogurt and lemon juice in the bowl of your food processor and blitz until creamy.

In a dry frying pan over a gentle heat, toast the cumin and caraway seeds for about 3-4 minutes just until the begin to smell fragrant. Remove and lightly crush using a pestle and mortar. Then combine with the remaining salsa ingredients in a bowl adding enough olive oil to reach a spoonable consistency.

Spoon the feta onto a serving platter, top with the roasted radishes followed by the salsa

ROASTED RADISHES AND GREEN BEANS WITH RADISH TOP PESTO

Serves 4

For the radishes

3 bunches leafy radishes
3 tbsp runny honey
2 tbsp olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
Sea salt

For the beans

350g beans
Olive oil
sea salt

For the pesto

3 bunches of radish leaves from the above bunch of radishes, washed
1 bunch of basil
125g roasted cashews
Half a grated garlic clove
Juice of half a lemon
Olive oil
Sea salt

Preheat oven to 200 degrees fan setting. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Wash and separate the leaves and the radishes (keeping the leaves).

Slice any very large radishes in half. Combine the olive oil, honey, lemon juice and salt in a bowl. Add the radishes and toss. Transfer to the tray and roast for 40 mins, pouring off the released liquid after 20 mins. They should be caramelised and slightly shriveled when cooked.

On a separate tray, toss the beans in olive oil and sea salt and roast for 15 mins.

For the pesto, blitz all the ingredients in a food processor until you reach your desired consistency. I like a relatively chunky pesto and tend to loosen it with olive oil after blending.

Allow the radishes and beans to cool slightly then toss in a large bowl with 2 heaped tbsp of the pesto and another glug of olive oil. Transfer onto a serving platter and top with more pesto if you like.