Beetroot bucatini
Be amazed at how the beetroot turns the pasta a majestic ruby red in this creamy, vibrant dish. It’s enough to convince anyone that beetroot is incredible. Add the sauce to anything from salads to pizza to pasta
Ingredients
- 380 g bucatini spaghetti or linguine
- 40 g feta crumbled, to serve
BEETROOT SAUCE
- 1 large beetroot including the stems and leaves
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped or crushed
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley stems
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil stems plus basil leaves to garnish
- 4 tbsp nutritional yeast
- ½ lemon juice of
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 70 ml oat milk
CRISPY GARLIC BREADCRUMBS
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove grated or thinly sliced
- 50 g breadcrumbs home-made from a stale loaf, or shop-bought
Instructions
- To make the beetroot sauce: bring a pan of water to the boil, add the whole beetroot and cook for 10–15 minutes or until tender. Drain the beetroot and set aside to cool for a few minutes, then cut into quarters.
- Meanwhile, in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil and cook the onion, garlic, parsley and basil stems for 3–5 minutes until fragrant and soft. Remove from the heat; do not wash the pan.
- Put the beetroot into a food processor or blender, add the onion mixture, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Pulse for 1 minute, then, with the motor running, stream in the milk. Blend on high speed until very smooth. If the sauce is too thick, add a little more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, to loosen.
- Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the bucatini and cook for 9 minutes or until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving 4–5 tablespoons of the pasta cooking water.
- Meanwhile, prepare the crispy garlic breadcrumbs. In a separate frying pan, heat the oil over medium heat, add the garlic and fry for 1 minute until lightly browned. Add the breadcrumbs and cook, stirring frequently, until the breadcrumbs are lightly charred and fragrant, about 2–3 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- In the same frying pan used for the onion and garlic, add the cooked pasta and beetroot sauce and stir well over low–medium heat for 2 minutes. If too thick, stir in some of the reserved pasta water.
- Serve the pasta in bowls or on plates, garnished with roughly torn basil leaves, crumbled feta cheese and crispy garlic breadcrumbs.
Notes
This recipe is sponsored by Mediterranean Supermarket