Adventures in the Kitchen: Spaghetti in (Beet) Red Sauce « blogging for burgers

Adventures in the Kitchen: Spaghetti in (Beet) Red Sauce

After several weeks on the road, I have returned to New York City.  My break from the hustle and bustle of the city has left me rejuvenated and ready to once again inform the general public of my culinary exploits.

While I have several posts stewing on the back burner (food blog pun- ha!), I thought I’d knock out a quick one for another light dinner pasta that I made a few weeks back.  Per usual, I had very little in the apartment to eat and I did not want another sub-par prepared meal.  Half-heartedly taking a look in the fridge, i found a couple of smallish beets that were a little bit past their prime, but decided to do something with them.  I also had some old parmegiano reggiano.  And some Trader Joe’s spaghetti.  I decided that all of that stuff would probably work together.  Even if it didn’t, the redness from the beets would create the illusion of eating a hearty meat sauce, so I would trick myself into satiety.

While I heated up the water for the pasta, I diced up the two beets into smallish pieces and sautéed them in olive oil in a nice broad pan.  I put a lid on the pan so that I could cook the beets through while maintaining some of their natural moisture.  I cooked the spaghetti until al dente and added it to the beet pan with just a touch of the pasta cooking water.  A few quick tosses to combine, and that was it!  I added a splash of extra virgin olive oil, shredded the parmegiano on top, and just for good measure, added some lightly toasted poppy seeds.  I always enjoy poppy seed flavor with beet ravioli, so I figured it would work here, too.

And it did.

The flavors all worked together– the earthiness of the beets played off of the saltiness of the cheese and the richness of the pasta and the olive oil.  The poppy seeds added a little pop and texture to an otherwise fairly soft meal.  For some extra richness, a dollop of fresh ricotta would have been an excellent addition, but I don’t usually keep that stuff on hand.

With fall coming before we even know it, I’d better start thinking of other ways to beet up my repertoire in the burgerboy household…

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