Ruby Pasta

Rich, ruby-toned pasta works with the strengths of the red beet, which likes to stain everything it touches. If you’ve ever cooked with beets and lamented the marks they left on your wood cutting board, fingers, and possibly apron, this is your opportunity to let their ruby red juices work to your advantage. In fact, all elements of this recipe work with the essential qualities of the subtly sweet, earthy beet.

To play up those sweet qualities and brighten them, I opted to add crushed fennel seed and marjoram, a delicate aromatic herb that is best introduced toward the end of cooking. Citrus also works well to brighten up the beet, but I just wasn’t in the mood for a lemony pasta when I first made this dish. What I was in the mood for was fluffy ricotta and plenty of it. Grown underground like other root vegetables, the beets in this dish find a new home beneath spoonfuls of fresh cheese.

Ingredients

3 large red beets
1 pound strozzapreti (can substitute smooth penne or gemelli)
¼ cup olive oil
2 crushed cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed
¼ cup red wine
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh marjoram
Salt to taste
Ricotta and freshly cracked black pepper for topping

The rough skin of raw beets covers their colorful flesh. Rather than peel it away as you may for some root vegetable preparations, leave the beets intact and roast them to preserve as much of the flesh as possible. Once roasted, the skin will come right off, leaving you with whole, brightly colored beets that are easy to slice.
For this dish, I recommend strozzapreti, though you can certainly substitute smooth penne or even gemelli. Smooth pasta moves more easily through the beet mixture later in the process and picks up color easiest as you stir.

Begin by preheating the oven to 400 degrees. Scrub the beets and remove their greens, which can be reserved and sauteed at a different time. Loosely wrap the scrubbed beets individually in foil and place them on a baking tray. Roast for about 50 minutes and remove when they are fork tender.

Carefully open the individual foil pouches as they will be filled with steam. Once they have cooled slightly so that they can be handled, wipe away the skin using your hands alone or with a paper towel. Now that the beets have been roasted, it should come off easily. Since beets stain everything (perfect for this vegetable dyed pasta!), I tend to rinse my hands often and use a cutting board that is not made of wood.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta. While it’s heating, slice the beets into ¼-inch rounds, then stack them and cut so that you have ¼-inch julienne strips. It’s fine to adjust the size based on the shape of pasta you have selected. Set aside.

When the water is ready, cook the pasta until al dente. Meanwhile in a large skillet, heat the olive oil and add the garlic and crushed fennel seed. When the garlic has become golden, add the red wine and cook until the amount of wine is reduced in half. Reduce heat, stir in the beets and chopped marjoram and cook just until heated thoroughly.

Add the pasta to the skillet and stir to combine. The pasta will pick up a gorgeous ruby tone. Continue to stir until the pieces are evenly colored. Remove from heat.

Portion pasta into bowls and top with a generous scoop of ricotta. Drizzle with additional olive oil and top with freshly cracked pepper.