28 Aug Taste sensation!! Beetroot, silverbeet and feta pasta!
Wow! This has been such a fun meal to make. It really was the trifecta of fun in its planning and execution. First, I researched winter budget recipes and found this interesting recipe from BBC food. Then I went to Friends of the Earth Food Coop and Cafe, to plan my next few meals, based on what they have in their produce refrigerator today.
As there were beetroots in the fridge, I thought again about this beetroot and feta pasta, which I had almost discarded, due to the dairy consumption and the hassle of sauteing the veggies – also, which ones?!
That would have been a mistake because this dish is so incredibly yummy! Suspend your judgment!! Right now 🙂 Hehe.
- 2 large beetroots - diced into bite sized chunks
- 1 bunch of silverbeet or spinach - stalks separated and cut into chunks and leaves cut into ribbons
- 2 cups of wholemeal pasta (any kind is fine, I used wholemeal fusilli)
- 1 onion diced
- 2 tbsp of olive oil
- 1 tsp of sea salt
- 150 ml Damona (vegan) sour cream (or creme fraiche, if you are eating dairy or can't find vegan sour cream)
- 2 small carrots - diced
- 1 leek - diced
- ½ eggplant (or any other veggies you need to use up) - diced
- garlic would probably be a GOOD IDEA - minced
- 1 tsp chilli flakes (optional)
- 50 g of feta (crumbled) - OPTIONAL
- Cut beetroot into bite size chunks and put on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Drizzle with 1 tbsp of the olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. Toss to combine, then bake at 180 - 200 C (depending on your oven) for 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile heat the rest of the olive oil in a medium frypan until shimmering then add diced onion, and saute for five minutes until softened.
- (The minced garlic should go in here, as well as the chilli flakes) and cook for a further 30 seconds to a minute, or until fragrant.
- Add the diced carrot and saute for another few minutes, then add other veggies (in my case leek silver beet stalks and eggplant, but zucchini, celery or capsicum could work too).
- Saute veggies for approximately 15 - 20 minutes, or until cooked through and softened.
- When beetroot and veggies are cooked, set aside to cool, while you prepare the pasta.
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add a tsp of sea salt. Add pasta and cook for packet directions. Three minutes before the full time, add the silverbeet ribbons and keep cooking for three minutes.
- Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of pasta water.
- Put the roasted beetroot and sauted veggies into a food processor with all the creme fraiche or Damona vegan sour cream and start to process. Add measures of the reserved pasta water, until the mix becomes smooth and creamy (but with some chunkiness still). It will be a beautiful vibrant purple colour!
- Mix the resulting beetroot mixture into a big bowl with the pasta and silverbeet and toss to combine.
- To serve: add the desired amount of pasta to a bowl and dress with crumbled feta cheese (or vegan alternative - such as vegan feta or tofu feta)
Here is a gallery of other images:
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- roasted beetroot
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- silverbeet ribbons
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- pasta and silverbeet – cooked
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- yum!!
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- plated dish of beetroot and feta pasta
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- bowl of beetroot pasta with feta to serve
Critique:
It does need a little more PROTEIN though, so maybe some baked tempeh or tofy would be a good accompaniment. I also thought about sauteed mushrooms on the side of this dish, or mixed in with the pasta and silverbeet.
Did you make this dish? What alterations worked for you?
NB: Sorry about the photography!!
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