I threw this meal together with things I wasn't so sure would go together, but it was such a huge hit, I wanted to share my recipe with you. I've never seen my kids eat anything as fast as they did this Beet & Feta Pasta!
Ingredients:
1 package (~500g) pasta of your choice (I used rigatoni, but would like to try farfalle for this)
1 1/2 cups feta cheese, crumbled
5 medium-sized beets, roasted and cubed
1/2 cup sweet onion, diced
2 tbs coconut oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
Roast beets. Wrap them tightly in two layers of aluminum foil. Roast in a 475°F oven for one hour, or until a knife can be easily stuck into a beet. Set aside to cool. In a large saucepan over medium heat, add coconut oil. When hot, add diced onion, and cook until caramelized. Add salt and pepper to taste. (For me, this is a couple pinches of each.) Set aside. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain, but not completely. Leave about 3tbs of the pasta water in the bottom of the pot with the pasta and set it all aside. Remove beet skins by rubbing them gently. The skins should easily come off, and to make it easier, I do this under cool running water. Cube beets. Put saucepan with caramelized onions back on medium heat, and add cubed beets. Combine well. Pour balsamic vinegar over the beet and onion mixture, mixing well, and stirring while over medium heat for approximately five minutes. Sprinkle 1 cup of the crumbled feta over the beet and onion mixture, and leave it to melt a bit (approximately five more minutes). Pour the beet, onion and feta mixture into the pasta pot and mix well.
Use remaining feta to garnish dishes when serving.
The pasta will turn a beautiful shade of purple-pink. The flavours of the sweet beets and onions with the salty feta is absolutely divine! It would almost make a delicious cold pasta salad.
And how about some Chocolate Apple Beet Cake for dessert? Or maybe this beet soup? Ok, I'll beat it with the beets . . .
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