Rosa e ancora più rosa – Tagliatelle rosa alle rape rosse con salsa ai porri, taleggio e pinoli

beettagliatelleweb

pastarossaweb

I have many friends who don’t like beets, they have an earthy taste that can be unappealing for some. I have been thinking for a long time to play with pasta dough, and make some colorful pasta, but I wanted something colorful and pretty, in the pinkish tint, and to get a pink color, beets are perfect, their deep red juice can color anything. My pasta machine being somewhere I cannot find, I used my mattarello (or matterello it depends on the region) (rolling pin) and went back to the basics.

I prefer pasta rolled with a rolling pin, you get a grainy texture that you don’t get with a pasta machine, therefore the sauce gets absorbed much better and pasta is really deliciously perfect. Now rolling the pasta with a mattarello (rolling pin) can get tricky if you have never done it, so if you don’t have the right rolling pin and never done it before, I recommend using the pasta machine.

Taleggio is a cheese from Northern Italy (it belongs to the stracchino category of cheeses), it has a distinct and nutty flavor, quite aromatic that I also like to eat with bread. It’s an ancient cheese and its origins can be traced up to year 900. If you cannot find Taleggio, you can use gorgonzola, its flavor is stronger but mixes well with beets.

You can use pre-cooked beets, I always find them at Trader Joe’s if I don’t have time to cook them. You can also buy the uncooked one if you have plenty of time and cook them in water for about 40 minutes.

If you don’t want to use all the pasta, you can put the extra on the refrigerator for up to two days.

Ingredients for 4

For the pasta

  • 15. 87 oz (or 450 g) flour
  • 7 oz (or 200 g) cooked beets, pureed
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • one pinch of salt

For the sauce

  • 3 large leeks, chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 4 tbs Taleggio (or gorgonzola), cubed
  • 5 tbs parmigiano reggiano, grated
  • 2 tbs heavy cream
  • 2 tbs pine nuts (optional)
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Preparation

Puree the beets in food processor. Set aside. Place flour in a mixing bowl, make a hole in the middle, add beets, and gradually add eggs, a pinch of salt and olive oil. Start kneading the dough, adjusting the flour if necessary, dough needs to be hard enough and not sticky. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes. Form a round ball and place in a plastic wrap for about 30 minutes and let rest.

Cut the dough in about 4-5 pieces, add flour if it is a little sticky, flatten it and start rolling the pasta with the pasta machine. I will post a detailed instructions soon on how to make pasta. La pasta fatta in casa, as they would say in Italy. When the pasta has been cut, it needs to dry a little bit, I would let it dry for about 30 minutes. Most of the time, I don’t let it dry, but for this particular types of pasta with beets, the dough tends to be softer than regular plain pasta, so you might need to let it dry longer.

Heat olive oil in a pan, add one garlic clove, add leeks, salt and pepper. Cover and cook leeks at medium heat. When cooked, remove from pan. Add taleggio, and let it melt slowly, add cream.

Start bringing a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta, when the pasta comes to the surface, after 2-3 minutes, drain and add to the pan with cheese. Add leeks, parmesan and pine nuts. Mix carefully and serve hot