Beetroot Pesto Pasta
This started out as a simple idea to get vibrant pink-coated pasta, but ended up an incredibly beautiful dinner! Use your favourite pasta – wholemeal for a healthier version.
Takes 35 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 200 g uncooked beetroot
- 400 g dried wholemeal spaghetti or penne pasta
- 130 g pine nuts
- 100 g frozen peas
- 1.5 cloves garlic
- 2 tbs balsamic vinegar
- 30 g rocket
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200°C/fan/220°C/gas 7.
- Wash the beetroot and remove any dirt and blemishes, then roughly chop into bite-size pieces and put them on a baking tray. Sprinkle with a good pinch of salt and drizzle with a little olive oil. Bake for 20–30 minutes, or until they are well roasted and slightly charred around the edges.
- Bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil, then add 1 tablespoon of salt and the pasta and cook as per the packet instructions.
- Put the pine nuts into a dry frying-pan on a high heat and cook for 5minutes, stirring regularly until golden. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Drain and rinse the pasta, keeping the pasta water. Put the peas into abowl, pour over the pasta water and leave them sit for 5 minutes. Thendrain and rinse.
- Peel and chop the garlic and put it into a food processor with the cookedbeets, balsamic vinegar, 150ml of oil and 1 teaspoon of salt, then blenduntil smooth. Add the pine nuts and pulse so they are broken up, but stilla little chunky to give some nice texture.
- To bring the dish together, put the cooked pasta into a large pan and addhalf the beetroot pesto, half the peas and the rocket. Fold together andwarm on a medium heat for 2–3 minutes, stirring regularly. Keep the restof the pesto for another pasta dish or to use as a fabulous sandwichspread.
- Divide between 4 bowls and serve with the remaining peas scattered ontop.
Notes
Any spare pesto, just keep it for a sandwich spread, which will last for a week in the fridge. You can use ready-cooked beetroot, but the colour will be less vibrant.
Nutrition
Calories: 250kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 6gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 11gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gSodium: 6mgPotassium: 296mgFiber: 3gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 379IUVitamin C: 12mgCalcium: 28mgIron: 2mg