Pasta with beets, greens, and goat cheese

So I had some beets, and I wanted some pasta.

Unfortunately, I found no beat sauces in my many cookbooks, and "beet pasta" search results returned recipes for creating pink noodles from scratch. While enticing, I rarely have motivation to use that Marcato pasta maker I received so many Christmases ago. My enthusiasm for kneading and flattening and cutting and drying does not match my enthusiasm for fresh, hand-made pink pasta.

But finally I found a couple recipes that outlined roasting beets, then cubing them and tossing into a little stock with garlic, and simmering down to saucy consistency. Steam or blanch a leafy green, like kale. Toss together your cooked pasta, kale, and sauce. Don't be skimpy with the sauce -- since it's quite thin, the pasta will absorb much of it. Reserve extra stock or pasta-cooking water to add if the final mixture is too dry. Sprinkle with goat cheese just before serving.

More soup: this time with beets

At the risk of revealing myself as a soup addict, I must share this gorgeous beet soup I made tonight.


No recipe is needed here, and the details don't matter except that the vegetables should be roasted first and include beets (if you want the amazing bridesmaid-dress pink). If you're unlucky enough to not have a pile of leftovers in the refridgerator, gather your favorites, drizzle with olive oil, and roast them.

Pile roasted veggies in a pot, add enough chicken or vegetable stock to almost cover, and heat. Puree with your handy immersion blender, and stir in more chicken stock to bring to desired consistancy. Season to taste, and add butter if you want (who doesn't want?). Puree again, to reach a perfect velvety texture -- or if you're feeling lazy, leave it a bit coarse and call it "rustic."