As a part of our Gateway Recipe Series, we are blending beets with goat cheese and roasted garlic into a creamy, tangy pasta sauce. I saw about 1,000,000 beet pastas around Valentine’s Day as a festive, pink dish, so I figured that would be a good starting point to try out some beets, which are towards the bottom of vegetables I enjoy. I used Wishbone Kitchen’s Beet Goat Cheese pasta as a starting point and made some adjustments to make it a little less beet-y for a gateway.
But at Concord Kitchen, we try new things! So if you don’t love beets, I can vouch that this is a great starting point – you can still taste the beets, but it’s really nicely balanced with the creamy goat cheese and bright, nutty topping. Let me know if you try it!
Beet Goat Cheese Pasta with Lemon Pistachio Breadcrumbs
A creamy, tangy, earthy pasta with a bright, nutty crunchy topping. A great way to ease into beets for anyone who doesn't love them.
Equipment
- Blender Immersion or regular blender
Ingredients
- 2 beets
- 5 oz goat cheese plus more for topping
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 lemon zest only
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs I am using panko
- 1/2 cup pistachios roughly chopped
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Peel beets and cut into roughly 2" cubes
- In an oven-safe baking dish, add cubed beets, garlic cloves, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Bake until beets are fork tender, about 30 minutes
- While the beets are in the oven, prepare your lemon pistachio breadcrumbs (recipe below)
- Boil a pot of water and heavily salt. When your beets are about 5-10 minutes from being ready, add pasta and cook until al dente according to package instructions.
- Reserve about 1 cup of pasta water and drain
- In a blender, combine roasted beets and garlic, 5 oz goat cheese, and about 1/4 cup pasta water. Blend until smooth, taste, and adjust for salt
- Combine blended beet sauce with pasta and another splash of pasta water until smooth
- Serve hot with more goat cheese and lemon pistachio breadcrumbs
Lemon Pistachio Breadcrumbs
- In a medium saute pan over medium heat, add butter and zest of one lemon and saute until fragrant.
- Add breadcrumbs and a pinch of salt and saute until golden brown.
- Remove breadcrumbs from heat and stir in chopped pistachios
Notes
If you don’t want to make the breadcrumbs, you can add lemon zest to the sauce and just top with chopped pistachios.Â
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
I don’t love beats, but I still really liked this! The breadcrumbs really make the dish.