Roasted Beet and Garlic Pasta
Roasted Beet and Garlic Pasta with Goat Cheese has an amazing color and flavors that are just as strong. Eating pink pasta never tasted so good!
As I mentioned the other day, I like to challenge myself to make pink foods that don’t use any food coloring. Lucky for me, Hubby and I both love beets. In fact, this summer we threw some on the grill just to try it. OMG. Seriously. Hubby’s favorite grilled vegetable is now beets (mine is red peppers).
So when I saw the concept of making a beet pesto to put on pasta, I knew I’d be making it this October. I made some changed to the recipe based on what we had lying around the kitchen and what we like. Roasted garlic is a must. When I’m roasting anything, I like to throw a bulb of garlic in some foil and roast it while the oven is on. We always find a way to use up roasted garlic and it keeps in the fridge for about a week. I also threw a clove of fresh garlic in the sauce just to give it a little bite.
Hubby and I rarely eat pasta. In fact, we don’t even keep it in the house. I had to add pasta to the grocery list so we would have some. I know a lot of people who love pasta and eat it on a regular basis, but that’s just not us.
This was a comforting meal that’s perfect for this time of year. I served it with some Onion Focaccia with Rosemary and a nice big glass of wine. And just look at that color! Hubby took some leftovers in his lunch and he said he got quite a few comments when people saw him eating it.
Don’t forget about my Power of Pink Challenge! Make something PINK during the month of October to raise Breast Cancer Awareness and a chance to win a $100 donation to the charity of your choice.
One Year Ago: Vanilla Spiced Applesauce
Two Years Ago: Pink Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Three Years Ago: Homemade Marshmallows and Smores Cookies
Five Years Ago: Pizza Night
Six Years Ago: Caramel Mocha Cupcakes and Tofu and Veggies in Peanut Sauce
Roasted Beet and Garlic Pasta
Roasted Beet and Garlic Pasta with Goat Cheese has an amazing color and flavors that are just as strong. Eating pink pasta never tasted so good!
Ingredients:
1 pound whole grain spaghetti
1 1/2 pounds red beets, trimmed and scrubbed
7 whole garlic cloves
4 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
freshly ground salt
4 oz goat cheese
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degF. Drizzle beets with 2 Tbsp olive oil and wrap beets and 6 of the garlic cloves (no need to peel them) tightly in foil. Roast until very tender, approximately 1 hour.
Meanwhile, prepare pasta according to instructions on box. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.
After removing beets and garlic from oven, remove foil and let cool slightly. Once cool enough to touch, use a spoon to peel skin off beets and coarsely chop. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of it's skin.
In a food processor, combine roasted beets, roasted garlic, remaining olive oil, walnuts, and peeled raw garlic clove. Pulse until smooth and creamy, adding reserved pasta water as needed. Add goat cheese and pulse until combined. Season with salt to taste.
Toss pasta and beet mixture until well combined. Sprinkle with more goat cheese if desired.
Recipe inspired by Simple Bites
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
ooh, i am drooling thinking about this over melty brie!! fabulous 🙂
beantownbaker — September 25th, 2013 @ 4:08 pm
It’s definitely as good as it sounds.
what a lovely jam! there are still some peaches at the market and i need to make this asap.
Sounds wonderful! When do you add the liquid pectin and how long do you let it boil after you add it?
beantownbaker — September 25th, 2013 @ 4:14 pm
Sorry about the mistake in the recipe, I have updated the recipe to reflect when to add the pectin.
That sounds delicious, but when do we add the pectin, and can we use powdered pectin instead of the liquid one? Thank you so much…
beantownbaker — September 25th, 2013 @ 4:15 pm
Sorry about the mistake in the recipe, I have updated the recipe to reflect when to add the pectin.
I’m still new to canning, but I read in the Ball book that you can’t swap different kinds of pectin and should only use what the recipe calls for…
when do you add the pectin ??????
beantownbaker — September 25th, 2013 @ 4:15 pm
Sorry about the mistake in the recipe, I have updated the recipe to reflect when to add the pectin.
How long does this keep?
beantownbaker — September 28th, 2013 @ 8:36 pm
If you process the jars in a water bath, they will be fine on a shelf for up to a year. Once opened, you want to refrigerate it and it will keep for about a month in the fridge.
The number of cups of chopped peaches would be very helpful. Also, are the pectin pouches 3 or 6 oz?
The flavor was outstanding! However, it never fully set-up into a jelly. It was more of a jam/thick sauce – even after re-processing with a 2nd pack of pectin (I gave in and used the powder) On my other batches, I used 2 dry packs – and I’m not sure if those will even set correctly. 🙁
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:22 pm
Sorry to hear this didn’t set up for you…
With sealed jars what is the shelf life of something like this?
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:22 pm
In general, I would try to open them within 6 months. I have kept jars of jam for up to a year without any problems.
This is my second year making this and i just wanted to tell you that it is outstanding. i’m sure others are wondering about yield — I got 9 half-pints from one batch. How long do you process this? I did 15 mins to err on the side of caution. Thanks!!
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:26 pm
I always process for 10 minutes.
Does this make the five half-pint jars shown or does it make more? Since everything sort of comes together at the end in canning (hot jam, sterilized jars, etc., and boiling water) I like to know ahead of time how many jars to prepare. Thanks.
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:28 pm
It made 6 jars for me. It will depend how big your peaches are too.
With my jams, I usually use real lemon juice, but not in such large quantity,Did you use fresh or “jarred” lemon juice?
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:29 pm
Yes, I use jarred lemon juice here.
According to “foodinjars.com” you can substitute 2 TBSP powdered pectin for 1 pouch of liquid pectin. 🙂 just thought I’d share that little tidbit! This recipe is FANTASTIC! Thanks Jen!
http://foodinjars.com/2013/07/canning-101-how-to-substitute-pectin/
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:30 pm
Thanks for sharing this!
I am looking forward to making this jam this evening!! I was seaching for a recipe for peach and jalapeno jam and this one caught my eye! Because you posted it my the day I was married, then reading your story and that you live in Cincy! I was born and raised north of that area!
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:31 pm
Small world! I hope you enjoyed this jam.
This recipe should come with a warning label. I feel like I just made crack. I changed it up a bit and used cherries instead of peaches. I was having a hard time finding a cherry pepper recipe and had cherries in my freezer needing evicted and this one looked so good I used it as my baseline. THANK YOU for sharing it! If you are interested, it was a mix of sweet and tart cherries, and I added an extra jalapeno to a double batch. I just got done putting up nearly 11 pints of the stuff and am sitting here like a child licking the residue off my ladle it is that freaking good. Definitely recommend you try it with cherries some day if you like them. I am picking peaches this weekend and will definitely be making this as posted because I am sure it is divine. Ive been making jams and jellies since i was a child and this is the best one yet. Thank you again, can’t wait to try it properly with peaches!
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:32 pm
Cherries! What a great change. I’m goign to have to try that out.
It would have been nice to know how many jars I would need to make this recipe!!!
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:33 pm
I got 6 jars. I’ll update the recipe to reflect the yield.
Oooooh. I am making this this weekend – thanks for a fantastic-looking recipe!
First time jam maker. Went to the farmer’s market this weekend and bought peaches and jalapenos (along with a bunch of other stuff). Thought I’d try my hand at making a jam/jelly because we love it on pork chops. This recipe was perfect. Thanks for sharing… and thank you to Google for popping it towards the top of the search list. Thank you Beantown Baker!
How long do you need to water bath can it??
Made this today – delicious but decidedly soupy. I thought maybe once it cooled it would set up more, but no.