Beetroot Fettuccine with Butter and Sage

I love making Beetroot Fettuccine with Butter and Sage for a number of reasons. First off, I love making homemade pasta, both hand-rolled and with a pasta machine. It's relaxing and there's nothing quite like the consistency of freshly made pasta.

One of my favorite things is beautifully colored pasta as it looks so great with different kinds of sauces. It's also a wonderful way to use different colored vegetables, herbs and other ingredients: spinach, broccoli rabe, tomatoes, squid ink.

Beetroot is a wonderful choice because it gives a delightful fuchsia color to your pasta. Once it's cooked the vibrancy of the color changes to a lovely bright pink.

When using beetroot to color your pasta bear in mind that it will also add additional moisture to the dough which means you have to reduce moisture another way. I do this by using less egg white. A standard recipe for making pasta calls for a ratio of 100 grams of flour to one large whole egg. The easiest way to reduce moisture is to eliminate an egg white in your dough.

Here's the recipe:

Beetroot Fettuccine with Butter and Sage

Ingredients:
120 g "O0" or all-purpose flour
80 grams semolina flour
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
1 small beet, about 25 g

The entire beetroot plant with the delicious stems and leaves

40 g butter
30 sage leaves
Several sprigs of fresh sage
1 small garlic clove, minced
⅓ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Reserved pasta cooking water

Procedure:
Cook and puree the beets:
Wrap the beets in tinfoil and roast about 30 minutes at 350°F or until tender.
After the beet has cooled down to room temperature remove the peel.
Purée in a small blender or with an immersion blender.
Add the whole egg and egg yolk to the blender and purée further until smooth and creamy.
For the dough:
Place the flour on a work surface and make a well in the center.
Add the beet purée and use a fork to whisk together.
Once the flour and beet mixture has formed a dough knead until smooth and elastic.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let sit for at least 30 minutes and up to two hours.
Take one third of the dough and pass it through the pasta machine starting at the widest setting.
Pass through each setting and finish with the second to the smallest setting.
Cut each pasta sheet into fettuccine using the fettuccine cutter.
Dust the fettuccine lightly with flour and place on a dishcloth to rest while you cut the remainder of the fettuccine.
For the butter and sage:
Mince half of the sage and set aside.
Melt the butter in a saucepan large enough to hold the fettuccine.
Once the butter is melted and sizzling add the whole sage leaves and fry until crisp.
Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Add the minced sage leaves to the butter and sizzle about 30 seconds, then set the pan aside.
To cook and serve the fettuccine:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add enough salt so that it tastes like the sea.
Cook the fettuccine until al dente.
Use a pasta claw to remove the pasta from the water and place into the saucepan with the sage and butter.
Toss everything together.
Add the grated Parmesan, toss again and add just enough pasta cooking water so that the sauce is creamy.
Place the Beetroot Fettuccine with Butter and Sage in a serving bowl and top with the fried sage leaves and fresh sage sprigs and serve.

Beetroot Fettuccine with Butter and Sage

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Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Beetroot is a wonderful way to color your pasta because it gives it a delightful fuchsia color. Once it's cooked the vibrancy of the color changes to a lovely bright pink. When using beetroot to color your pasta bear in mind that it will also add additional moisture to the dough which means you have to reduce moisture another way. I do this by using less egg white. A standard recipe for making pasta calls for a ratio of 100 grams of flour to one large whole egg. The easiest way to reduce moisture is to eliminate an egg white in your dough.

Course: Lunch, Main Course, Pasta

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 2

1x2x3x

Ingredients 

For the pasta:

• 120 g "O0" or all-purpose flour
• 80 grams semolina flour
• 1 whole egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 25 grams beetroot 1 small

For the sauce:

• 40 g butter
• 30 sage leaves
• several sprigs of fresh sage
• 1 small garlic clove minced
• ⅓ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Reserved pasta cooking water

Instructions

Cook and puree the beets:

• Wrap the beets in tinfoil and roast about 30 minutes at 350°F or until tender.
• After the beet has cooled down to room temperature remove the peel.
• Purée in a small blender or with an immersion blender.
• Add the whole egg and egg yolk to the blender and purée further until smooth and creamy.

For the dough:

• Place the flour on a work surface and make a well in the center.
• Add the beet purée and use a fork to whisk together.
• Once the flour and beet mixture has formed a dough knead until smooth and elastic.
• Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let sit for at least 30 minutes and up to two hours.
• Take one third of the dough and pass it through the pasta machine starting at the widest setting.
• Pass through each setting and finish with the second to the smallest setting.
• Pass each pasta sheet through the fettuccine cutter.
• Dust the fettuccine lightly with flour and place on a dishcloth to rest while you rollout the remainder of the dough.

For the butter and sage:

• Mince half of the sage and set aside.
• Melt the butter in a saucepan large enough to hold the fettuccine.
• Once the butter is melted and sizzling add the whole sage leaves and fry until crisp.
• Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
• Add the minced sage leaves to the butter and sizzle about 30 seconds, then set the pan aside.

To cook and serve the fettuccine:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add enough salt so that it tastes like the sea.
• Cook the fettuccine until al dente.
• Use a pasta claw to remove the pasta from the water and place into the saucepan with the sage and butter.
• Toss everything together.
• Add the grated Parmesan, toss again and add just enough pasta cooking water so that the sauce is creamy.
• Place the Beetroot Fettuccine with Butter and Sage in a serving bowl and top with the fried sage leaves and fresh sage sprigs and serve.

Notes

Serves 2 to 3.

Nutrition

Serving: 100g | Calories: 1280kcal | Carbohydrates: 155g | Protein: 44g | Fat: 52g | Saturated Fat: 29g | Cholesterol: 468mg | Sodium: 914mg | Potassium: 419mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 1757IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 474mg | Iron: 11mg

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You'll also enjoy making this vibrant green Stinging Nettle Fettuccine!

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