Arugula, roasted beets and goat cheese on a rosemary seasalt olive oil bagel

Usually the best ideas come from others, as is the case with this Arugula (rucola), roasted beet and goat cheese bagel. I received an email from a reader suggesting this combination. Last week I gave it a try and it was delicious in my opinion.
Since it is hard to find quality bagels here in Finland, I made my own. I googled the history of bagels and found out that there are several different versions from different regions. The version that I made is the American style brought over by the Polish Jews at the turn of the century. The bagel is made from a wheat dough with yeast. It is boiled in salt water for a short time before baking. This gives it a chewy crust and soft inside. My kids are eager taste-testers. Whenever I make these, they disappear before my eyes. I also learned that the original bagels that the Polish Jews made in New York City were not perfect circles since they were all made by hand. This made me feel better since mine were not perfectly uniform either.

bagels in saltwater — Bagels in salt water. Boil them for thirty seconds a side.

I sprinkled my bagels with seasalt and rosemary before they went into the oven and gave them a little drizzle of olive oil after they came out.

The next step was to oven roast the beets. This can be done well in advance. Refrigerate and used as needed. These roasted beets are so good that they would be a great addition to a salad or a side for dinner.
Peel the beets, cut into thin slices and lay flat on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and sprinkle a little salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes at 200C/390F.

Cut the bagels into half. Drizzle a little olive oil on the bottoms and sprinkle them with fresh rosemary and pepper.

Fill the bagels with goat cheese (I alternated using goat cheese and Manchego cheese (a hard cheese made from lamb’s milk), roasted beets, and arugula(rucola). Garnish the bagels with a little drizzle of olive oil and rosemary.