Roasted Beet Pasta with Dill and Lemon

Erin Alderson

Roasted Beet Pasta with Dill and Lemon

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.

Roasted Beet Pasta with Dill and Lemon

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Preparation 15 mins 2017-09-24T00:15:00+00:00 Cook Time 1 hour 2017-09-24T01:00:00+00:00 Serves 3 to 4 servings     adjust servings

Ingredients

  • 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

  1. 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.
  2. While beets are cooling, cook pasta according to directions. Drain and place in a bowl.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

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Recipe 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

Beets | @naturallyella

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

Beet Pasta with Dill