Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Ruby pasta - cooked with beets and wine!



I recently thought I'd see what it took to make some truly bright-red pasta out of your standard box of semolina shells.  Having some fresh beets on hand, I thought I'd boil them (scrubbed very well) and save the juice to cook my pasta in.  Since I'd recently seen Rachael Ray make spaghettini cooked in red wine on Iron Chef, I thought I'd supplement the beet juice with a cup of Cabernet.


Underwhelming pasta boiled in beet juice and red wine

I wasn't really expecting the results to be exactly what I was looking for... which is good because what came out into the bowl was a mass of slightly anemic purple pasta.  The wine had given a little flavor to the shells, which is nice, but the color was still off the mark. 



 Now THAT'S more like it!

The solution?  Cut up the freshly boiled beets and toss them with the still-hot pasta.  Viola!  Bright red pasta!  I tossed it with some olive oil to enhance the color with a rich sheen - then added roasted asparagus tips, garlic, salt/pepper and a squeeze of lemon!  So pretty, surprisingly easy... and oh so YUM! 

I'd love to hear from anyone who has tried cooking pasta in wine or beets (or both!)... or just any unconventional pasta-cooking wisdom!

PS - Yes, I took these pictures on the snow-covered picnic table in the backyard of my building... SO COLD, and yes, I looked insane to my neighbors.  Yay!

29 comments:

  1. I can't believe the color difference between your two pics. Great job -- the results are beautiful. And although your neighbors think you're crazy, they're also probably way jealous of your dinner! Happy Christmas! Robin

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  2. What beautiful photos! The color is so gorgeous...I love your kitchen experiments. I never attempt unconventional pasta recipes - I make the few pasta dishes I know exactly the way my mother in law taught me (the way her Roman mother in law taught her!) I shall live vicariously through you!

    Happy Holidays :)

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  3. OK seriously? I've gotta try this! I have lots of beets from my winter CSA. Now, if I can think of something more in season than asparagus to go with it . . . kale maybe?

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  4. Mae..You do leave me speechless! the color..I cannot even start to believe it. I so love your kitchen experiments! so much like me. I never tried with beet..but I once did an experiment with Saffron! it looked heavenly...but I guess I overdid my safron..so the taste wasn't that great. Plus I am not too much into saffrons. The flavor is rather strong for me

    your's look lovely..I am definitely gonna try them..and taking the picture on the snow..brilliant!

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  5. I love it that you went out to the snow to take these pictures. But it was worth it for the contrast with the dark, earthy beet-coloured pasta. What a great idea.

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  6. Whoa. That pasta is so vibrant and enticing. What a gorgeous photo. I might have to give this a try. Thanks for stopping by WeHeart.
    Cheers,
    Hilary

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  7. oooo, so pretty! extra points for braving the snow for awesome photos! i've never cooked pasta in anything to make it turn colors, but i have made pasta dough and added food coloring/pureed veggies to make the dough colorful before boiling it. i have also blending beets into a smoothie when i was ill, and i peed red for two days. i was just grateful it wasn't a uti. freaky!

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  8. Wow... the color just blows the roof off! Great photo...and the snow is genius! Thanks for the great post.

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  9. Oh I love that color! You always have such creative meals!!

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  10. The red color is due to betanin in the beets and anthocyanins in the wine. The anemic purple was probably because of a combination of raised ph, oxidation, and heat durring the boiling process. If you feel like doing more experimentation, you could combat all three by adding some vitamin C tablets to the pot (well, in theory at least). Cooking the pasta at a bare simmer instead of a boil might also help. Of course, your acidic squeeze of lemon and constrasting green asparigus both make scientific sense as color intensifiers.

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  11. What a fun experiment! It would be cool to try different ingredients to see what other colors you can get (hmmm I'll be spending some time wondering what can be used now...). Love your snowy pictures too...I think most people think food bloggers are nuts anyway :) They. Just. Don't. Understand! Merry Xmas!

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  12. I love the colors! It looks great.

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  13. I have had som many strange looks photographing things normal people don't usually photograph :| I'm slowly learning to block it out lol. The ruby pasta looks yummy... The shells remind me of huge rubies which may have once been hidden in an Arabian cave. Oh an snowy piktars- very pretty!

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  14. That looks FANTASTIC!

    I might steal this idea. In fact, screw that, I definitely am!

    I used to get funny looks photographing cupcakes in my back garden. But they came from the annoying neighbours, who are themselves very strange, so I haven't let it bother me.

    Merry Belated Christmas!

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  15. @Robin - Yes, I was pleasantly surprised at the difference myself!

    @James - Thanks so much for the scientific explanation - you've elevated this recipe to Alton Brown heights! ;)

    @Everyone - Being stared at for photographing, say, a grilled cheese sandwich on your veranda just comes with the territory of being a food blogger, and it does make for some fun stories. Sometime I'd like everybody to share their favorites!

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  16. Your creativity always amazes me! I haven't tried anything like this - but I love beets. And I love the snow in the photo!

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  17. Beautiful color and kudos for figuring out the way to get that vibrant hue! I was thinking of doing this with just red wine, but love the idea of using beets as well.

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  18. Such beautiful photo of your pasta. I will have to try this! Sounds so yummy! Stopping by from SITS!

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  19. I don't really like beetroots, but they indeed add a nice colour to your pasta...Brilliant idea!

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  20. These are gorgeous! They would be so much fun to serve at a dinner party :)

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  21. Your pasta is beautiful! Amazing the difference in the two photos!

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  22. Wow...gorgeous!! I am totally in love with this dish...I really want to try making it myself! Beets are one of my favorite foods, so I am just chomping at the bit over here!

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  23. Trudging through the snow certainly paid off! Great looking shot!!

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  24. So very festive looking! Flavours sound very more-ish.

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  25. I've actually used the same trick with poached pears. In wine alone, they look a mess. But with a slice or two of beet in the wine, they turn a deep ruby.

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  26. Very interesting. I never though to do that.

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  27. What a gorgeous asparagus recipe to celebrate spring’s arrival. Just want to let you know about an asparagus recipe contest that’s super simple to enter and offers gourmet prizes. Hope you’ll join us at Beet ‘n Squash YOU!

    Love, Mel

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  28. Gorgeous! Believe it or not I've never had a beet before and had no idea that its juices were so rich in color. This may motivate me to give it a shot!

    Found you via Pioneer Woman, who featured this recipe for its beautiful asparagus.

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  29. This is sheer genius! Beets are such a wonderful vegetable and the asparagus makes the whole picture pop. I love it!

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