Creamy beetroot pasta, a flavorful and vibrant dish made with just three main ingredients: beets, pasta and crème fraiche (or cream cheese).
Something pink to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year? How about a creamy and delightful beetroot pasta recipe made in no time and with just a few ingredients? A delicious and simple dish that will convince anyone that beets are just amazing.
And if you are looking for more Valentine suitable food, have a look at these Valentine Sugar Cookies or this Heart Shaped Cheesecake. Great desserts to serve after a bowl of beet pasta. Or some drinks? The Gooseberry Gin or the Rhubarb and Ginger Gin have the right color as well.
What do you need?
- Just three main ingredients: fresh beets, noodles, and crème fraiche or cream cheese.
- The beet I had was a fairly large one, weighing about 450 g/ 1 lb before peeling.
- Pasta: I used spaghetti, but actually any other shape would be fine, either long or short.
- Creme fraiche or cream cheese: I cooked this dish many times, and used both crème fraiche or cream cheese, depending on what I had in the fridge.
- If you use cream cheese, whisk it well with a small amount of milk to make it creamy before adding it to the sauce. The sauce made with crème fraiche is slightly softer, so there is no need to add any milk.
- Other ingredients: one small onion, vegetable or chicken stock, apple cider vinegar, a little olive oil, salt, and pepper.
How to make beetroot pasta sauce?
- Peel, rinse, and roughly grate the beetroot.
- Chop the onion very finely. Cook it on low heat with a pinch of salt until softer and translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add a small splash of the stock after one or two minutes to stop it from getting too much color and to help it soften. (1)
- Add beets to the pan, stir well and cook gently for about 3 minutes. (2)
- Add the stock, one teaspoon vinegar, salt, and pepper. Stir and cook on medium-low heat, covered, for about 25 minutes until the vegetables are soft. (3)
- In the meantime, cook the spaghetti in plenty of generously salted water.
- If using cream cheese, add a splash of milk and whisk well. If using crème fraiche there is no need to add anything.
- Add the dairy to the pot, stir well. (4)
- Blend the sauce with an immersion blender.
- Adjust the taste with salt, pepper, and one more teaspoon of vinegar.
- Drain the noodles. Return to the pot. Pour the sauce over them and mix gently but thoroughly.
How to serve beet pasta?
The dish is best served immediately. If you have leftovers keep them refrigerated and add a splash of milk when reheating on a gentle heat and preferably in a non-stick pan (or mix with the splash of milk and reheat in the microwave).
Serve with green salad or cooked or roasted vegetables.
You can sprinkle the dish with chopped parsley or chives and freshly grated Parmesan. It’s really nice, but not mandatory, the beetroot pasta dish has a lot of flavor as it is.
Make in advance?
You can make the beetroot sauce in advance, place it in an airtight container and refrigerate for about 2-3 days. Once you are ready to serve it, cook the pasta, reheat the sauce on low heat (adding a splash of milk if too thick), and combine with the noodles.
I would not freeze the sauce.
More beetroot recipes:
Beetroot Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 lb beetroot Note 1
- 2 lb pasta Note 2
- 1 small onion about 50 g/ 1.8 oz
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup vegetable stock or chicken stock
- 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar divided
- 1 cup crème Fraiche Note 3
- fine sea salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Peel, rinse, and roughly grate the beetroot. Set aside.
- Chop the onion finely.
- Saute onions: Heat the oil in a large, deeper, non-stick pan. Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook on low heat for about 3-4 minutes, adding a small splash of the stock halfway through until the onion is softer.
- Add the grated beets and cook on medium-low heat, stirring a few times, for about 5 minutes.
- Simmer: Pour in the stock, one teaspoon vinegar, and add salt and pepper. Stir well, cover, and cook on medium-low heat for about 25 minutes until the veggies are soft.
- Cook pasta: In the meantime, cook the pasta in salted water according to packet instructions. Add crème fraiche and stir well. See notes if using cream cheese.
- Blend the sauce with an immersion blender. Adjust the taste with the remaining vinegar, salt, and pepper.
- Combine: Drain the pasta, return it to the pot. Add the sauce and mix gently to combine.
- Serve immediately. (Note 4)
Notes
- Weighed before peeling; after peeling, there were about 375 g/ 13 oz left. It was a reasonably large beet.
- You can use the same amount of cream cheese. In this case, add a good splash of milk to the cheese and whisk well to make it creamy.
- Spaghetti or any other pasta shape you like, short pasta is fine as well.
- You can sprinkle the dish with chopped parsley or chives and freshly grated Parmesan (optional).