Looking for someone to eat beets with...

Today I decided I had to make pasta with beets. Nevermind that I am the only one in my house that will actually eat beets...I really just had to make this pasta.

This bright pink, cling wrapped ball is all natural!

Since the onset of football (and fantasy football) season, I've found myself basically cooking for 1: Me. Boy-O has newly entered the "cereal stage" and insists on eating cold cereal for 2 meals a day. Maybe I lack the parenting skills needed to insist that he should eat something else, but for breakfast and lunch, I just don't sweat it. And my Husband, since he's been busy with fantasy football drafts and pre-season games for the beginning of September, (somethings that I completely avoid - like all sports) has been eating out or just needing something quick...partially why I've been making all kinds of sandwiches lately. (Tuna Salad with a layer of the Roasted Red Pepper Salsa is really good!)

It's kind of nice to have a break from dinners, I guess, but I do need a reason to be in the kitchen, or I end up knitting. I have to be careful with that since I think I'm a tense knitter and end up with very sore hands for several days after completing a project. I have to work on being a relaxed, mellowed-out knitter. Any non-drug or alcohol related tips on that would be appreciated...

Since I've been trying really hard to cut back a little on the dessert faction of my life, when I saw a recipe for beet pasta in the Outpost Exchange that came this month, it's kind of been nagging me that I'd have to try it. I've been making pasta since 1996, I think, when my Mom gave me her Atlas pasta machine that she wasn't using. For many years after, I never bought any pasta, I just made it when I needed it - since after having it the first time, no boxed stuff could really compare.

It does make a mess of your kitchen, but it really is worth it. I never really make any flavored pastas, after reading Marcella Hazen who firmly states that pasta itself should never be flavored, and all flavors should be added on top of the pasta. I've really basically held true to her doctrine, and only made a spinach pasta once from a Saveur recipe for a really delicious Bolognese Lasagna. But bright fuschia pasta from farm market beets? Yes, please. Now I just need someone to eat it with.

Clean workstation, before the flour flew...

The Exchange recipe used no eggs and semolina flour. But if I'm going to go through the trouble of making pasta, I'm going to use eggs. Nothing compares to fresh egg pasta. So, I used Mario Batali's Roasted Beet Pasta recipe. Since I am really going to try and find someone to eat this with, I am going to experiment with freezing fresh, dried pasta. The Exchange recipe did say to refrigerate or freeze, I think due to the addition of a vegetable, since dried egg pasta will stand quite awhile if well dried beforehand.

I love Mario Batali. When I used to watch more Food Network, I liked to watch him. He is always so passionate about whatever he is doing, and it seems to me that he really WANTS you to try it too. His recipe for pasta worked well, but it was extremely sticky even more so after it rested for 30 minutes. I probably worked in about another 3/4 cup of flour while rolling it through my maker. It did make a mess, but for some reason a crazy, pink flour mess didn't really upset me too much. I did taste the raw dough, and it did taste faintly beet-y, but I'll have to wait and see how it tastes boiled up.

The Exchange recipe also served the pasta with a blue cheese sauce with walnuts, kind of a riff on a classic roasted beet salad. I think this is how I will serve it, when I make the big batch. Usually when I make pasta, I keep the little ends and unattractive noodles to eat for lunch, and this beet pasta was no exception. So tomorrow, I think I'll cook up my little batch of seconds and just mix it with s&p and olive oil, maybe a few nuts. I'm sure a picture with be forthcoming.

Meanwhile, just look at the natural color of the beet pasta below!

So, now, who wants to eat some beets with me?