If you are not a beet lover, this beet pasta is not for you (but check below for a good swap). The beets are roasted whole, peeled, then pureed with a bit of cream, lemon, and dill to make a puree. The dill/lemon combination might seem a bit counter to most beet pairings but together, this pasta feels like a winter dish looking forward to spring. As for lunch, I prefer this pasta for dinner and to make extra roasted beets for this avocado salad. Also, if you were hoping for homemade pasta made with beets, check out this recipe.
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PinIngredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 pound red beets
- 8 ounces whole wheat fettuccine pasta (store bought or homemade)
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/4 cup pasta water
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill, plus extra for topping
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Toasted walnuts, for topping
- Feta, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375˚. In a roasting pan, toss beets with olive oil and sea salt. Cover the pan with foil and place in the oven. Roast for around one hour- until beets are tender. Remove from the oven and let cool enough to handle beets. Peel the beets and cut into chunks.
- While beets are cooling, cook pasta according to directions. Drain and place in a bowl.
- In a blender, combine beets with heavy cream, lemon juice, 1/4 cup pasta water, dill, and salt. Puree until mostly smooth. Taste and add more salt if desired.
- Add the beet puree to the pasta and toss until the pasta is well coated, adding more pasta water if desired to thin out the puree. Top the pasta with crushed toasted walnuts, feta, and dill if desired.
Notes
+ To speed up the process for dinner, roast the beets ahead of time.
+ I have a high-powered blender which makes for a creamy puree. If using a food processor or regular blender, the puree may have a bit more beet texture.
Beet Pasta
variations
This beet pasta is a bit on the non-traditional side of pasta as the sauce is less of a sauce and more of a puree. Add more pasta water/cream if you want to thin the sauce down. You can also try this pasta with golden beets but the color of the red beets makes this dish for me.
Protein: Not picture, but added quite often- toasted chickpeas are a nice finishing touch to the final dish or occasionally I’ll puree chickpeas into the beet puree.
Carrots: It was a toss up on which variation to share but roasted carrots are amazing in place (or in addition to) the beets in this dish. The carrots are slightly sweeter and less earthy (for those who aren’t a fan of beets!)
Vegan: Swap out the heavy cream for almond milk- the almond milk adds a nice bit of nuttiness to the puree while increasing the creaminess.
Explore Beets
I’m not one for raw beets but roasted beets I’ll eat every day. I find the roasting mellows the flavor, brings out a bit of sweetness, and can occasionally turn a non-beet lover into a fan. A few more recipes using roasted beets:
Roasted Beets with Burrata
Roasted Beet and Blue Cheese Frittata
Chocolate Beet Cupcakes
~ carmen ~ says
This looks amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it. The color of the beets is so alluring. :]
~ carmen ~ says
This looks amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it. The color of the beets is so alluring. :]
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
The colour of this pasta is absolutely gorgeous! Definitely saving this recipe for later 🙂
Sarah | Well and Full says
The color! So beautiful! And I love beets so this pasta would be perfect for me 😉
linda \ the baker who kerns says
Luckily I absolutely ADORE beets (and sometimes I feel like I’m the only one) so I am totally loving this pasta! I mean I love the idea of eating bright red noodles!
Camera with An Appetite says
The colour is so beautiful!!
Sophie says
I absolutely LOVE the combination of dill, beets and lemon, so I was already sold by this title, but the PICTURES! Absolutely stunning!
Gabriella says
This looks delicious! I agree with Carmen, the color is beautiful!
Amy @ Parsley In My Teeth says
Wow – how gorgeous! Who could resist something so beautiful? I want some now!!
Samantha says
what a pretty dish!!! Sounds amazing.
karen Crossan says
I love this idea, definitely going to try. Thank you for sharing.
★★★★★
KlaraZalokar says
Hello Erin,
I just cooked this dish for lunch and I have to say I did not expect it to be so super delicious and good-looking! Even my boyfriend, who is usually super skeptical with my veggie lunches said it was yummy.
Thank you very much, for posting this recipe, It will go into my staples rotation now.
Greetings from Slovenia,
Klara
Sarah Leupen says
Beautiful and delicious. The whole family enjoyed it including the kids. I added a some yogurt to the sauce and that was terrific. Nice with walnuts and cheese, but next time we’ll try the toasted chickpeas, too.
Sue says
Amazing. Fabulous and pretty dish. Creamy but not overwhelming as many creamy sauces generally turn out.
★★★★★
Derek @ HealthierDay says
I think I will try to carrot route – I’m not much of a beet guy 🙂 I think I will also try the almond milk vs. cream to cut out some of the calories.
Harri Baillie says
Hi – I was wondering if you could replace the heavy cream w something else. coconut cream or yoghurt?
Thanks
Erin Alderson says
Maybe cashew cream- I’m always leery to suggest yogurt only because of the tanginess.
Prakruti Maniar says
Hello. I bought Sour cream instead of heavy cream, is that okay?
Erin Alderson says
It will be a different flavor but it might work.
Heather says
This was really good. This sauce made much more than I needed for a 1/2 pound of pasta. I made the sauce separately from the pasta and used plain water instead of pasta water. I am looking forward to eating all the leftovers! I used a food processor and had no issues with texture – nice and smooth.
★★★★★