Fresh Beet Pasta & Sautéed Cod
Growing up, I never liked beets. As a matter of fact, it is safe to say that I hated them. When I was a little kid, my mother would always try to sneak them in by putting a plate on the table in front of me filled with my favorites – roasted chicken, green beans – and I would get excited. Then my eyes would settle on the party crasher – those damned beets! I would cross my arms, look up at her and put on my most intense pout, one that nonverbally said, “Oh, that ain’t gonna happen today.”
She would counter with a nonverbal and equally intense stare that communicated, “You’re not getting up from that table until you eat them.” Thus, kicking off the ultimate test of wills. In the end, we would come to a non-negotiated truce. I would reluctantly eat half of the beets and she would let me go play with my Atari 2600. (I’ll admit it. I was a hyperactive little brat. If I was a child today, I’d be a prime candidate for Ritalin. But that was a different era.).
So, I NEVER liked beets. Then something funny happened. For some unknown reason, somewhere north of say, 30 years old, I suddenly got into them. I began to love their complicated flavor. Part sweet, part hearty. Sort of like liquorish but not really. I eat them quite often these days. And although it would make her day, this is something that I keep from my mother. She would take delight in the fact that although it took 30 years, she ultimately prevailed in the ultimate battle of the wills. I would never hear the end of it.
Besides simply roasting them, one of my favorite ways to use beets is in pasta. While it gives the pasta a very subtle flavor, what really stands out is the color – a bright, intense and deep reddish pink. It’s a show stopper. Only thing I struggle with is what to pair it with. Hot pink is not the easiest color to balance on a plate. So many things just look weird next to it.
As in most dilemmas, the answer is usually found in keeping it simple. So, in this post, I’m pairing beet linguine with a simple piece of sautéed cod and a Sauvignon Blanc reduction (the word ‘reduction’ makes this sound more difficult then it actually is…it’s a very simple sauce). For a garnish, I went to my old stand by – chiffonaded leeks wilted with salt.
I like how the elements of this plate play with one another – a nice balance of flavors and textures. The cod, delicate and mild is rounded off with salt and pepper and the taste from the butter it was sautéed with; the pasta, has a mild beet flavor; the sauce adds a ‘don’t forget about me’ sharpness that keeps your taste buds alive and finally; the salt wilted leeks complete the dish with a bit of freshness.
I hope you like it as much as I do.
Note: The beet pasta is really the subject of this post – thus no recipe for the cod and leeks is included. For this dish, I just salt and peppered the cod and sautéed it with butter. The leeks are cut into chiffonades and mixed with a ¼ teaspoon of salt and allowed to sit at room temperature until the leeks are wilted and pliable, about one hour. The Sauvignon Blanc reduction preparation is after the pasta recipe.
ON A RELATED NOTE: About two years ago, we remodeled our kitchen. I had my heart set on marble countertops but felt discouraged by all of the warnings about marble being porous and easily stained. After much research and deliberation, I went with marble anyway. After two years of heavy use (including making fresh BEET pasta), so far so good. So note to the daring, seize the day and live without fear! 
FRESH BEET PASTA – LINGUINE
4 tbl pureed red beets (about two medium beets)
7 egg yolks
1 tbl milk
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for roasting beets
¼ tsp salt
2 ½ cups flour, plus more for kneading dough
Preheat oven to 365˚. Wash, dry and lightly coat beets with olive oil. Tightly wrap beets in aluminum foil and roasted in oven for about an hour (or until the beets can be easily pierced with a knife). Set a side. Once the beets are cool enough to handle, peel and puree in a food processor until they reach the stage of a smooth puree.
In a medium bowl, mix together the egg yolks, milk, 2 teaspoon of olive oil and salt. Stir in beet puree.
Mound the flour on the countertop creating a well in the center large enough to hold the beet mixture. Pour beet mixture into the flour well.
Using your finger or fork, begin making a circular motion in the beet mixture to slowly start incorporating into the flour. If needed, occasionally push a little of the flour into the well. Continue until the beet mixture becomes incorporated with the flour. Once the dough begins to form, mound it together into a rough ball (see unkneaded dough photograph above). Knead the dough on a clean, lightly floured area of the countertop. The dough will be sticky at first, but will be come smoother as you continue kneading. Sprinkle with a bit of flour if the dough is too sticky to work with. Knead the dough by pushing down and away from you with the palm of your hands and turning the dough onto it self. Knead dough for no less than 10 minutes. After kneading, the dough should have a smooth texture (see kneaded dough photograph above). Cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 1 hour.
Cut dough into 6 equal parts. Starting at the widest setting, run each piece through the pasta press attachment of KitchenAid mixer. Gradually, press the dough through smaller and smaller settings until you get about 1/8″ thick (setting “5″ on the KitchenAid pasta press). Once you have pressed all six pieces. Run the pasta strips through the linguine cutter attachment. Separate and hang (or layout) linguine until ready to cook.
Alternatively, you can roll out the pieces of dough with a rolling pin on a lightly floured counter top until you reach the desired thickness. Roll pasta into loose cylinders and cut into strips of linguine.
Bring a large sauté pot of salted water to boil. Cook the pasta until done, up to 2 minutes – overcooking will drain the pasta of its rich color. Drain and serve.
SAUVIGNON BLANC REDUCTION SAUCE
1tbl butter, unsalted
½ shallot, diced
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup Sauvignon Blanc (or any dry white wine)
3tbl heavy cream
Over medium heat, sauté shallots in butter in until they are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until the mixture reduces to about ½ cup of liquid, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in heavy cream.
SO decadent! I love beet pasta!
I had to comment for I hated beets as well as a youngster! I thought they were horrible and could never understand why my mother ate them all the time…even right out of the can! But now in my 30’s something has changed with me as well for now I love beets and make them all the time. I usually just roast them, cool and then add balsamic vinegar, olive oil, sea salt and fresh ground pepper. So, I’m am excited to see it in pasta! Wow, looks amazing with the cod. My husband would die over this dish so I just may have to make it this weekend. Thank you!
if you can take all of the ground squash and make some sort of Ratatoulli and add it on top of the fish that would make it an award winning dish.
I make a similar dish , using spinach fettucine with Grilled Salmon with a Tomatoe Relish Salsa. Also great colors. But yours take the cake. Its definitely a winner with the other ground squashes , that would add some more vibrant colors.
Bethany: What can I say? I was inspired by your beet raviolis.
Miranda: Good luck with the dish. Don’t forget, knead the pasta dough until your hands fall off and then knead it for 5 more minutes.
ChefBob: I like your twist on the pasta. I really like the idea of the Grilled Salmon with a Tomato Relish. Looks like Ceramic Canvas just found our first guest blogger.
Firstly your photos are superb – 2ndly I have loved beetroot my whole life and the idea of putting it into pasta is great. You make the pasta look so adoreable. Wonderful result you got. Cheers from Audax in Australia.
That is gorgeous!
I love fresh pasta dough.
This is stunning. I never used to like beets, but now I love them. Except they stain my kitchen!
Wow, so do you make this for just a casual dinner? This seem like a special occasion type meal!
What a beautifully colored pasta! This would be nice on Valentine’s Day.
Audex: Thanks. How’s it going down under?
Brilynn: I agree – nothing beats fresh pasta.
Zoe: It seems like most of us are ‘beet converts.’ I guess its a hard flavor to appreciate as a child. Atlanta is one of my favorite places but that airport of yours is a nightmare.
Jennifer: I agree, fresh pasta isn’t a weekday meal. But I must admit, you can make it pretty fast once you get the hang of it. I usually only make fresh pasta when I am doing raviolis – for flat or tubular pastas I usually just go for a good quality dried version.
I can’t stop looking at the photos of this pasta. Absolutely stunning. Great job!
I have a couple of questions–will it work to use canned beets? and how did you chiffonade those leeks so perfectly?
Jean: Canned beets should work fine. Just make sure to rinse and pat them dry them. Thanks for the compliment on my knife skills. For chiffonades, I usually line the blade up on the line where I want to cut, lift the knife up so that only its point is still in place and then slowly pull the point through for the cut. All of the cuts won’t be perfect but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be surprise at your accuracy. I hope that helps.
This looks so beautiful!!! I was hoping you could tell me how many people does the recipe serve? 2, 4, 6? … I really want to try this out. Thanks
Kita: I can’t believe that I forgot to include a serving/yield notation – that’s a rookie, Recipe Writing 101 mistake.
The recipe makes about 1lb of pasta. That should serve 4-6 as a main. Let us know how it goes. Thanks.
Hello, Reginald
I am a recent “lurker addition” to your beautiful blog…
I love it!
I wanted to get your advice, though – I made this pasta on Sunday and had a bunch of problems. First, I think I should have used more beets, my pasta when raw did not have the same color as yours, was a little lighter, but once I cooked it, it turned a very pale pink
I also think I rolled it too thin – in which setting do you stop? I have a KA pasta attachment, and rolled it all the way to number 6
Have you tried some semolina flour on your dough too?
I want to make this again in the near future, I have some beet puree frozen from Sunday’s adventures….
Sally: First, thanks for reading.
Hopefully I can help. For one pound of beet pasta I usually use four tablespoons of pureed beets. Not sure why your color lacked punch but if necessary you can always add more pureed beets as you are making it until you get the desired color (you’ll also need to increase the amount of flour to keep the right moisture balance).
When I am making linguine, I normally take it to number ‘5’ on the KitchenAid pasta attachment. I find that anything thinner than that overcooks too easily, is too thin to have the proper amount of ‘chew’ to the pasta and sticks together when cooking. Depending on your preference, you may even want to stop at ‘4.’
The beet pasta’s bright color is both a weakness and strength when cooking. Weakness in that it is not forgiving – overcook the pasta and it quickly bleaches out the color. It’s a strength in that you have a built in color indicator that lets you know when the pasta is done…when it starts to loose color, pull it out pronto. The pasta should only cook for 2 minutes.
You can use semolina flour – quite a number of people prefer it because it makes a firmer pasta than all-purpose flour. But I typically use all-purpose since I always have it on hand.
I hope that helps. Let me know how it turns out with attempt #2.
Wow, that looks incredible! Really lovely photography.
How strong is the beet flavour – you say it’s subtle? I don’t really hate the taste, just a mild dislike really. Is it more that the flavour is present, but not overpowering?
Emma: Thanks. The beet flavor is very subtle – you might not even notice it if it wasn’t for the vivid color.
Thanks so much, Reginald
I will definitely roll the pasta thicker next time, I am sure it will improve a lot just by doing that.
I won’t be able to make it this weekend, but the following one looks promising – by then this post will be waaaay down the page, so I might just send you an email.
Your blog is just gorgeous!
Hi Reginald,
Love your take on beet pasta. I do have a question for you. Have you dried the beet pasta and cooked it later? If so, does it affect the color? Thanks in advance.
Mary Lou
MARY LOU: Thanks. I’ve never had the color dulled by storing the pasta for later use – but over cooking it will certainly bleach the color. I usually let the pasta sit out for a bit, twist them into individual serving sized nests (like in picture #2) and then freeze them. You want to let the pasta air dry a bit before twisting to help prevent the strains from sticking together. I find that this process works best for me.
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SALLY: Let us know how it turns out.
This is so gorgeous I can’t stop staring. It’s definitely on my must-try list.
Wow, your photos are stunning. I’ve never had beet pasta but I’m intrigued – it’s so beautiful! Do your hands get dyed red from kneading the dough?
RONNIE: Thanks!
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ISABELLE: Thanks. Nope, the beets don’t stain your hands when you knead the dough.
Hi Reginald,
Thank you for your kind note about my fledgling little blog. After looking through yours, now I have something to aspire to! I must say that reading your beet story from childhood took me right back to my own! My mom was not a great cook- she saw it as a chore to be done as quickly as possible. So a dinner fave of hers was cubed steak (those stringy, shoe leathery, gag-inducing things), canned beets and minute rice. The beet juice would run into the rice, and that was to be considered “sauce” for the bone dry white grains. And classmates had the nerve to ask me why I was such a skinny kid!
Anyway, your recipes, even the beet pasta, are elegant, beautifully paired and prepared, elevating our craft to a whole new level. I will be following your entries with great anticipation, even if they have beets in them!!
Ciao!
Don’t use canned beets unless you want to make a ghoulish Halloween dinner — the pasta will be light pink to start — and upon boiling turns flesh color — you can make fingers, ears, feet, noses etc…….
But if you use the dark roasted beets it turns out great….even better to run your beet pasta through a roller with alternating ropes of egg pasta and beet pasta and maybe even basil pasta……it comes out striped — awesome and delicious with a vegetable filling — like a large tortoloni on a plate with basil cream sauce……a real visual delight and so goooood.
Yes nice pictures, only recently tried our beet pasta must say I really enjoyed it. Thanks for posting.