Nicola Graines says: ‘Nutritionally speaking, wholewheat pasta beats white pasta hands down, yet its ‘brownness’, albeit fitting with the season, could be described as a bit lack-lustre. To brighten things up, cooked fresh beetroot/beet is used here to add both colour and flavour to the pasta in this quick and easy meal.’
DETAILS
- Serves 4
- Preparation time: 10 minutes
- Cooking time: 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS
- 400g dried wholewheat spaghetti
- 200g cooked beetroot in natural juice (not vinegar), drained and roughly chopped
- 75g walnut pieces
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 100g rindless soft goat’s cheese, crumbled or dairy-free alternative
- 4 handfuls of rocket leaves
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
METHOD
- Cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling salted water following the package directions. While the pasta is cooking, purée the beetroot using a hand-held stick/immersion blender and set aside.
- Toast the walnuts in a large, dry frying pan for 3 minutes, tossing them occasionally until they start to colour. Set aside. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over a medium heat. Fry the garlic for 1 minute, then add the beetroot purée and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes until reduced slightly.
- When the pasta is cooked but still al dente, drain, reserving 100ml of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the beetroot along with enough of the cooking water to loosen the sauce. Using tongs, turn the pasta to coat it in the sauce, adding more of the cooking water if needed.
- Divide the pasta between 4 large shallow bowls and scatter over the toasted walnuts and goat’s cheese just before serving. Top with the rocket and an extra drizzle of olive oil, then season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Recipes adapted from The Part-Time Vegetarian’s Year by Nicola Graimes (Nourish, £25). Photography by Haarala Hamilton