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!

Tuna Steak with Spaghetti Squash Pancakes: 3 Ingredient Recipe #6

Well, I'm over the hump on the 10 day challenge and I find myself contemplating a spaghetti squash.  It's been sitting in my kitchen for a good week, waiting to be made into something tasty.  I halved and baked the squash and then contemplated one of the halves.  I had been thinking of baking and then deep-frying the ribbony flesh into crisp golden tendrils, so I heated up some oil and set to adding the shredded squash to fry.  The result was far from what I expected: The strings clung together in masses that looked like brambly, oil soaked nests.  FAIL.

Very glad I had another half, I started again, this time deciding to try just a quick pan saute in olive oil, but keep the essence of the squash in tact.  It wasn't as pretty, but I had a tasty blend of textures: vegetal and crisp.  It looked like a nice bed to serve under... something.  I had a plan for that, too: tuna steaks with a roasted garlic/peppercorn crust.  They turned out as luscious as filet mignon, but with a balanced lightness that married well with the squash.  I hope you try this, it's surprisingly good.

For a refresher on the rules of my 10 day, 3 ingredient challenge, check out the first post.

3 Ingredients...

1. 2 tuna steaks
   
2. 1 spaghetti squash - cut in half and seeded
   
3. 8 cloves of garlic, roasted 

What to do with it all...

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
  
• Place squash face up on middle rack of oven and roast for 45 mins or until fork tender - remove and allow to cool
  
• Once cool enough to handle, begin using a fork to pull flesh out in ribbon-like "spaghetti"
  
• Heat olive oil in a medium ovenproof saute pan on medium-high and add half of the squash "spaghetti"
  
• Saute on medium-high for a couple of minutes, shaping like a pancake, then flip and repeat
  
• Remove to a paper towel to drain and sprinkle w/salt and pepper
  
• Repeat process w/second half of squash and set aside
  
• Turn on your oven's broiler to high
  
• Mash roasted garlic with a fork and add a tablespoon of roughly cracked peppercorns and sea salt to taste
  
• Press the garlic/pepper paste to each of the tuna steaks on one side
  
• Heat your ovenproof saute pan again on medium-high heat with more olive oil
  
• Add steaks, naked side down and sear for a few moments, shaking to ensure it does not stick to bottom
  
• Remove from stove and place under broiler for 2 - 4 mins depending on your broiler - you want the steaks to be just barely cooked on the outside, very pink in the middle
  
• Place one squash pancake on each plate and slice tuna steaks into medallions and serve on top of pancakes
  

Six down, four to go!